Pokemon Volt Yellow
by Blu Rose
Summary: Just about everyone in Kanto knows who Red Ketchum is: one of the youngest Champions of the Indigo League who defeated a criminal organization. But before that, he was an outcast from Pallet Town with a freaky Pikachu who went on a journey to be like any normal kid, but instead found trouble every other day. [COMPLETED!]
1. Chapter 1 - The First Step's Hardest

**So,** _ **this**_ **has been sitting in a folder on my computer for a while. It started off as a prequel to a Pokemon BW story I'm writing right now that you might know, Pokemon Cold Gray, and was supposed to explain what happened a couple of years prior to the beginning of the story alongside of a "modified" recount of what happened in Pokemon Yellow–AKA that game where Pikachu is the starter like in the anime. But I ditched the first half of that idea and decided to focus solely on the Pokemon Yellow part of the story. Of course, it's not exactly entirely the same as the game's story. How different is it? Well, you can read the first scene down there and find out. I'm not sure if I'll ever try to finish this, but at least I'll know I posted it.**

 _Disclaimer_ : I don't own the Pokémon series or any of its characters. I only own my telling of the Generation I story.

 _Story Summary_ _: Just about everyone in Kanto knows who Red Ketchum is: one of the youngest Champions of the Indigo League who defeated a criminal organization. But before, he was an outcast from Pallet Town with a freaky Pikachu who went on a journey to be like any normal kid and instead found trouble every other day._

 _Chapter Summary_ _: On the day that 10-year old Red leaves home on a journey across Kanto, instead of a rare, special Pokémon, he was given a disobedient, ordinary Pikachu. Or at least he_ _ **thought**_ _it was ordinary..._

 **X-X-X**

" _Hey,_ _ **Ketchup**_ _!"_

 _At the young age of 4 years old, I'd been skipped ahead several grades. I was classmates with kids who would probably begin registering for their trainer licenses the moment they graduated, all because I performed higher than an average kid of my age, and even higher than older ones. A lot of kids labeled me as 'a nerd baby'. Adults like my mother and teacher labeled me as 'a gifted child with great potential'. I liked to think I was just a kid who got a hang of things faster._

" _ **Ketch-up**_ _!"_

 _But there were those who seemed to think my academic talent made me an easy target for bullying. I'd grown used to it, though. I simply continued to sit down under the tree, hoping I could fall asleep again…until I was kicked in my shin. The sudden pain made me open my eyes and faced the scabby knees of the older kids who were picking on me._

" _This is a_ _ **playground,**_ _not a_ _ **nap**_ _-ground!"_

" _If you wanna take a nap, why don't you go back where all the other babies are for naptime?"_

" _Yeah, ya baby!"_

 _By the time they started laughing, I had already closed my eyes. It wasn't just an attempt to block out their childish bullying. I often got headaches. Usually, Mom would give me something to make it better, but when I told the teachers about it, they usually told me to lay my head down and take a nap—hence the baby insults. Unfortunately, for the boys in front of me, they wanted me well awake for their bullying. I found myself being kicked in the shin again._

" _Don't ignore me, you weirdo! It's rude to sleep when people are talking to you! Didn't they teach you that in your baby grade?"_

 _Before the boy finished, I began closing my eyes. Instead of a kick to the shin, I felt myself being shoved back into the tree. The back of my head hit the tree with painful impact. The boy in front of me said something, but I was more concerned with the pain I was feeling. I felt something wet dripping down the back of my neck. I wiped it off and held my hand out. My hand was red. I was_ _ **bleeding**_ _. I'd seen blood before when other kids would scratch or cut themselves, but I never actually bled until that point of my life. The sight of it seemed to have an effect on me. I cried. I screamed. The pain of my headache seemed to amplify. I have no idea how long I sat there crying, but I only stopped when I heard my mother's voice._

" _Shh-shh-shh…! It's okay, Red. Mama's here, sweetheart." I opened my eyes to the sight of my worried mother kneeling before me. She was wiping away my tears while she was crying herself. "I'm so glad you're okay…!" She wrapped her arms around me and whispered soothing words. I looked over her shoulder and saw people tending to their own children. They all had blank stares, none of them moving. I honestly had no idea what had happened. All I knew was that people were staring at me as if I'd done something wrong._

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 1: The First Step is the Hardest~_

"All boys have to leave home someday. It's a natural part of life. The baby bird learns to fly and…leaves the mother in her nest all alone…!"

I really wished that she wouldn't do this, but it was expected. I was her only son—her only family in this world. That's why she considered me as precious as a Starmie's gem, and why she hugged me so tightly. To be honest, a little part of me was scared and worried. The world was full of danger and people who might easily misunderstand or hate me for something I couldn't control being born with. And Mom would be left alone—she didn't really have many friends in-town…not since what happened, anyway.

We stood hugging each other for several minutes before Mom let go of me. "Alright… You go over to the Pokémon Lab now. You wouldn't want to keep a busy man like Professor Oak waiting, would you?" I made a little hum. "Are you nervous? Don't worry! You're going to be getting a Pokémon for the first time! It doesn't matter which one you pick, either, because no matter what, it will become one of your closest friends." Mom turned me around and began pushing me out the door.

I walked out the into the dirt road and turned around to look at my house, my eyes taking in its details: the little flower garden beneath the window, the mailbox with the brightly-colored pinwheel on it, the small set of Pokémon-shaped lawn ornaments with just enough of them to catch the eye without seeming too garish. I'd learned to control my emotions years ago, but right now, they were a swirling storm despite my straight face. A part of me didn't want to leave the safety of home or leave Mom all alone. Even if I was a quiet child, it'd be even quieter without me around to prompt her to speak, I'm sure. It wasn't until the curtain in the window was pushed aside and I saw her face that the emotions ceased.

I didn't look a thing like my mother: her hair was a light shade of brown and her eyes an even darker brown. My hair was black while my eyes were a shade of red that, added to my pale skin, made me seem like a ghost from an old-time horror movie on my worst days. And even if she wasn't chatty, she smiled a lot, like she was doing then as she made a little waving gesture with her hand—just like she did when I was going to school. And for that, my mask broke. I waved right back, and if I could see my reflection in the mirror, I'd probably have seen a 10-year boy straining not to cry as he left on a journey across the land that would take heaven knows how long to accomplish.

"I love you," I spoke slowly enough for her to recognize what I was saying. "I'll miss you."

"So do I," I read her lips. "And I'll miss you, too."

With a deep breath, I turned around and began walking down the dirt road. I quickly regained my composure, although my heart was still aching a bit. I tried to focus my mind on the first and most important task of my journey's beginning: getting my first Pokémon.

Pallet Town was small and quaint, and had little to offer. There was no Pokémon Center, just a little at-home clinic with old-fashioned medicine where people took their sick and injured Pokémon. No Pokémon Gym to attract trainers, as most people who lived there only kept Pokémon as pets. The only real reason someone would want to visit our town was Professor Oak, the famous Pokémon Professor, expert on the Pokémon of Kanto, and recently the creator of the device known as the Pokédex. The same Professor Oak who had actually chosen _me_ as one of the children allowed to obtain a rare Pokémon and a Pokédex. It was an honor awarded to only a handful of beginning trainers—and being told I was one of them a year ago made me happier than I had been in years. I'd spent the last year preparing for my journey, researching Gym Leaders, coming up with potential teams of Pokémon. Was I ridiculously overly prepared? Maybe. But I didn't care in the slightest if my methods were different from other kids. My goal was to become the Indigo League champion, and maybe, just maybe…I could finally be…

"Hey, Red!" The sound of a loud, obnoxious voice made me snap out of my thoughts. It came from the boy with the spiky orange hair dressed in blue, standing right in front of me with his hands on his hips and a smirk on his face. "Where're _you_ heading off to in such a hurry, huh?" Blue Oak. He was the grandson of Professor Oak, which may have had something to do with that ego of his. Despite his attitude problems, he was one of the few people who spoke to me—albeit like a bully and a jerk, but he _was_ only 10, fancy boarding school education or not. We _were_ friends once, but these last couple of years, we'd been rivals who both had the same goal. " _I'm_ off to get a Pokémon from Gramps that'll help me become the champion of the Pokémon League!" Ordinary boy stuff…

I took the time to adjust my cap, straighten up my vest, and clear my throat. It was moments of silence like this that annoyed Blue, and while I wouldn't admit it _out loud_ , a childish part of me just _loved_ to do that in revenge for all those moments where he had to have the first and last words. "Me, too."

Blue's jaw dropped in surprise. "What?! Seriously?!" He then regained his normal smirk. "I bet you're probably gonna get one of the _normal_ starter Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle. Me, on the other hand… Gramps said that he had a super special Pokémon that nobody else was getting—just me!"

"Oh. Good for you." The Professor probably only told him that because Blue begged him for something unique. Blue _did_ tend to act like a spoiled brat sometimes. Maybe he'd mature a little on his journey… Who am I kidding? The world would enter another ice age before Blue would grow up. I tried to step around him, but the blue-clad boy just blocked me off. "Blue…" I trailed off, starting to get annoyed.

"Not so fast, Rapidash! If anyone's gonna be the first to get their Pokémon, it'll be _me_!" He exclaimed as he turned around and ran off down the road. "Smell ya later, Red!"

I waited for Blue's figure to disappear from my sight before I started walking again. If there was one upside to leaving Pallet Town, it would be that the likelihood of running into Blue Oak again was slim. Thank goodness…

 **X-X-X**

I arrived at Professor Oak's laboratory minutes later. Behind the large building was a fenced off area where there were Pokémon that the Professor researched. I remember often going there after school to watch the Pokémon outside. Taking only a momentary glance at the Pokémon resting in the field, I walked through the sliding doors of the lab. I felt the air conditioning hit me and I started to cool down. Nearby, a man in a lab coat was working on a computer—one of the professor's assistants. I approached the man and spoke loud enough for him to hear, "Excuse me."

"Yes?" The man asked without looking at me. He was too focused on his work, and a part of me was relieved because of that. Most locals couldn't help but be a bit intimidated by me.

"Where is Professor Oak? I was told to come to receive a Pokémon."

"Oh, so _you're_ the one who's going to receive _it_. Lucky kid. It's not quite as rare as one of the Pokémon that the professor usually gives away, but it's certainly one of the most interesting." It? He must've been talking about whatever Pokémon Blue was going to receive. "The professor is in the backroom. He's talking with his grandson first, though, so you'll probably have to wait."

"I see. Thank you very much." I left the front room and entered the room in the back. It was Professor Oak's personal working space, filled with books and files of his research. Standing in front of his desk was Professor Oak, dressed in a red shirt and beige pants with a white lab coat, and his grandson Blue, who seemed upset.

"It's not fair, Gramps! You _told_ me you were going to give me a unique Pokémon unlike the others you give away! Are you gonna break your promise?!" Blue noticed me out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to look at me. "Red! There you are! Now we can settle this!"

I blinked. "Settle _what_? What do you think I did _now_?"

Blue frowned and pointed back at his grandfather. "It's what _he_ did! Go on, tell 'em, Gramps!"

Professor Oak flinched from being put on the spot. He gave a nervous laugh as he scratched his head. "Heh-heh-heh… W-well… It would seem that I promised to give you and Blue the same Pokémon!"

My eyes widened in surprise for a moment. "…The _same_ Pokémon? But aren't I going to receive one of the usual starters?"

The professor regained some confidence. "Well, you see, I received this Pokémon after getting some new information from a colleague in Johto and I thought that Red would be a good choice to help me by giving _him_ the Pokémon. But I also promised Blue that I would give him the _same_ Pokémon! Isn't that funny?"

"Hardly," Blue grumbled. "Now you've got a choice to make, Gramps! Either give the Pokémon to me or to Red!"

"Now, Blue, don't rush me. It isn't like I can choose so easily," Professor Oak spoke with a stern expression. "Both you and Red _do_ have certain qualities that might help in tapping in its hidden potential."

"Hidden potential? What sort of Pokémon is it, anyway?" I asked, suddenly curious.

"Oh, yes. I suppose I should show you what it is before I just hand it over." The professor picked a Poké Ball off of his desk and released what was inside. It turned out to be an Eevee, small, brown and canine-like, it yipped excitedly and began to play with the hem of Professor Oak's pants. "Do you boys know what this Pokémon is?"

"It's an Eevee!" Blue exclaimed. "It's got three different evolved forms and supposedly has the potential to have even more!" And there he went, flaunting his knowledge. But he did have a point. Eevee was a popular Pokémon because of its multiple evolutions as well as its cute appearance. "It's so cool!"

I stared at said Eevee as it started to sniff and paw at the tip of my sneaker. "You…want us to help find a new evolution for Eevee?" I asked. "When you said I'd be helping you with your research, I thought it'd be something like…delivering parcels or something."

"Hmmm? Are you disappointed, Red?" The Professor asked as he kneeled down to pet the Eevee on the head.

"N-no…! No, that isn't it. I'm honored that you would want to choose me for this, but…since you promised it to Blue, you should give _him_ the Eevee instead."

Blue sucked his teeth and glared at me. "You think you're _sooo cool_ , pulling off that maturity act. Well, _whatever_! I _know_ I deserve Eevee!"

I stared at Blue in silence for a while. After he started to look annoyed with me, I said, "Yes, Blue. You deserve it. I'll just take one of the three Pokémon the professor normally gives out." I didn't really mind. I didn't have any plans with an Eevee in mind anyway. It would totally mess up the dynamic I had in mind.

Once again, the Professor looked sheepish as he stood up. "A-actually… There are none prepared at the moment. The next trainers entitled to receive one won't come until…a month."

His grandson groaned. "Seriously, Gramps?! You are _totally_ off the ball today!"

"N-now, wait a moment! There's no need to get upset!" I wasn't really upset, though. And Blue seemed more embarrassed than anything. "Now, while I can't give you a _rare_ Pokémon, I could still give you a Pokémon to start your journey with, Red."

I stared up at the man in confusion. "Is…is that allowed?"

Professor Oak smiled. "Of course it is! A trainer doesn't necessarily have to start their journey with Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle! And I really must make up for this fiasco after you've already gotten prepared to leave." I tugged at the straps of my backpack when he said that. "I recently caught a Pokémon just outside of town. While not as rare as an Eevee, their kind is uncommon near Pallet," he explained as he walked over to a computer system in the corner of the room. Beneath the computer screen was an opening with a small pit, likely for Poké Balls. After pressing several computer keys, a Poké Ball popped out, labeled "#25-4". The professor picked up the ball and handed it to me. "Why don't you release it and see for yourself?"

I looked down at the ball with bated breath. Even if it wasn't one of the Pokémon I thought of getting, I couldn't help but be excited about my first Pokémon. Restraining to urge to overreact, I pressed the button and released the creature inside in a flash of red light. What came out was a bright yellow mouse with dark red cheeks—a Pikachu? The professor was right: Pikachu weren't seen around Pallet Town.

The Pikachu looked around in what seemed to be a mixture of anger and panic. Its cheeks sparked and it growled while glaring at all of us.

"Pfft! A Pikachu? That's not even _half_ as cool as an Eevee, or any of the other Pokémon you give out, Gramps!" said Blue. "Why'd you bother even catching it?"

The Pikachu may have understood Blue's comment, because in a second, it was releasing bolts of electricity and shocking us.

 **X-X-X**

Later, after we had recovered from Pikachu's attack, Blue had left, saying how much he pitied me: either I had to wait a month to get another Pokémon or go on my journey with that disobedient Pikachu—which had taken to jumping on top of a bookcase and curling up for a nap. Either way, Blue had a better chance of becoming the Indigo League champion before me. I wanted to be mature about it, but I couldn't help but be sad. Did I really have to wait another month stuck in this town, where people stare at me like I've got the plague?

Professor Oak's hand on my shoulder snapped me out of my thought. Well, at least the professor didn't think poorly of me. "I'll understand if you want to wait a while until I've gotten some new Pokémon, Red. Unlike the Pokémon I usually get that are domesticated from their birth, this Pikachu was only recently caught and brought out of the wild, so it's not well trained. And to add to that, it's quite disobedient. It gets like this even around other Pokémon!" Then why keep it? What was the point of keeping such a disobedient Pokémon? Even if they're uncommon, surely he could've just gone out and caught another Pikachu. "I would've released it back into the wild by now, but this particular Pikachu is…interesting."

"Really? It…looks normal to _me_ , Professor…"

"Just use that Pokédex to scan the Pikachu and you might see what I mean."

I stared at the old man before I picked the Pokédex up off the table, flipped it open and pointed it at the Pikachu. The screen lit up and showed an image of a Pikachu on one side and information like its type, species, and a description. According to the Pokédex, it stored electricity in its cheek sacs, could cause lightning storms in groups, used its tail to monitor its surroundings, and will bite those who try to grab their tail. "I…don't see anything special…"

"Whoops! Hold on a second…" The professor took out another Pokédex behind his desk. "The Pokédex has a feature allowing trainers to observe the skills of the individual Pokémon under their ownership. Right now, this particular Pikachu is mine, so only the Pokédex registered to _me_ can scan its particular skillset. Use _your_ Pokédex to see what sorts of moves Pikachu learn naturally." I did what he said. It could learn Light Screen at some point, but nothing really interesting. "And now I'll scan _that_ Pikachu to see what moves _it_ knows." He did that, showed me the screen, and…I was surprised with what I saw. "It knows…Fire Spin?"

" _F-Fire Spin_?! Oh, thank goodness it decided to use a normal Thunder Shock instead! We could've walked away with _burns_ …!" Professor Oak said with a sigh of relief.

I continued to stare at the list in awe. Thunder Shock, Growl, Tail Whip, Thunder Wave and Quick Attack— _those_ were moves Pikachu could learn naturally, but Fire Spin wasn't even something one could learn through TMs! "Professor, I think there's something wrong with your Pokédex."

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with it. Trust me, I've tried. Yesterday, it knew Sing and sang me to sleep before it stole my lunch! The day before that, it knew Karate Chop and broke one of my poor aides' legs! Heck, the day I found it, it used Self-Destruct and knocked itself out! The point I'm trying to make here, Red, is that this Pikachu is interesting because…it's an anomaly. Every day I check up on it, it seems that one unusual move changes into another."

"I-I see… Then why give it away? It'd be better to just keep it here and research it some more."

"Well, why give Blue an Eevee to help me learn more about its evolutions?" I arched an eyebrow in confusion as the professor chuckled. "When I was young, I went all over with my Pokémon, discovering all I could about them. Unfortunately, I'm not as young as I used to be, and I can't learn everything about a Pokémon by just observing it in the comfort of my lab. That's why I have to rely on young trainers like you and Blue, who are brimming with potential, to learn what you can about Pokémon as you travel. That's why I wanted you to go on your journey with this Pikachu here and learn more about its strange ability. But I suppose that's a tall order…"

I stared up at the Pikachu. "I…I guess…I could do it." I looked at the Professor. "I'll help you, Professor Oak. I…wasn't expecting to get this sort of Pokémon, but I'd be happy to help you with your research."

"Are you sure, Red? It's quite a disobedient Pokémon…"

"Good trainers can get difficult Pokémon to work with them with time and patience."

"Oho! Quite serious then, aren't we? Well…I'd be happy to give you this Pikachu for your first Pokémon. Of course…" The Professor looked up at the sleeping Pikachu. "Now we just need to get it down from there without incurring its wrath… I _really_ hope it doesn't use Fire Spin…!"

 **X-X-X**

Even though I agreed to take the Pikachu along, by the time I arrived in Viridian City, I was regretting my decision the moment we hit the road. The electric rodent refused to go into his ball, so I wound up having to make it follow me by dropping Oran berries from the small plastic box Mom bought for me from the grocery store. I thought I would at least be able to catch another, more obedient Pokémon to train while making Pikachu a bit friendlier towards me, but all my attempts failed. What few Pokémon I came across during the trip along Route 1 didn't really interest me: only Pidgey and Rattata. Of course, some wouldn't let me walk away and attacked me, which prompted me to use my new Pikachu. Big mistake. Half the time, he lounged about. The other half, he used moves I didn't tell him to use. One time he used Fire Spin and almost hit _me_ with it, but Pikachu only laughed about it before being knocked out by a Rattata. By the time I arrived to the Viridian City Pokémon Center, I handed the nurse at the counter Pikachu's Poké Ball and walked over to the payphone. Slipping some change into the slot, I punched in my home number and waited as the dial tone sounded.

" _Hello, good afternoon. Ketchum residence."_

"Hi, Mom," I spoke, sounded dejected.

" _Oh, Red! It's you! I-I mean, you're calling so soon. Is everything okay, sweetie?"_

"Yeah. I just wanted to let you know I made it to Viridian City alright." So what if I lied? If I said I was miserable at the beginning of my journey and that things had begun in a rotten way, Mom would only worry.

" _Oh, okay. That makes me glad. So, what Pokémon did you choose to start off with?"_

"A…Pikachu."

" _Pikachu? I didn't think that was a Pokémon they gave out to beginning trainers… But that just goes to show how special you are, sweetie! Getting to start with a different Pokémon! There's a gym in Viridian City, isn't there? I suppose that'll be where you'll get your first gym badge!"_

"Yeah. I'm a…little nervous. I haven't gotten much training done." If you could call that pitiful attempt 30 minutes ago training.

" _Aw, I'm sure you'll do just fine, dear."_

"…Mom? I…" I hesitated to tell her truth. My mouth was open for a few seconds before I changed my mind. "I'll call you when I win my first gym badge."

" _Mm-hm! Give 'em heck, sweetie! I love you!"_

"I love you, too. Bye…" I hung up the phone and stared at it sadly. Well…I was in a mess. One that my pride and my desire to become champion of the Indigo League wouldn't allow me to get out of. Not until I achieved my goal. But could I really do that with a disobedient Pikachu?

"Red Ketchum! Your Pokémon has been healed! Please report to the front counter to pick up your Pokémon!" A voice came from the speaker, sounding somewhat frantic. I sighed. What had that Pikachu done _now_ …?

When I came to the front, I found the nurse and several of the trainers who had been hanging around in the Pokémon Center standing far away from the countertop, which held a tray with a Poké Ball and Pikachu, who was glaring at everything. All I could do at this sight was sigh.

 **X-X-X**

I stepped out of the Pokémon Center with a sigh, Pikachu following behind me. It wouldn't stay in its Poké Ball, and yet it continued to follow me. Wonder why? Maybe it just took pleasure in seeing me suffer. Was there even any point in challenging the Viridian Gym with only Pikachu? According to all the latest information available on the Indigo League of Kanto, the gym leader of the Viridian Gym specialized in Ground type Pokémon, which were strong against Electric types like Pikachu. If I was able to properly train the disobedient little mouse, maybe I would be able to succeed despite the type disadvantage…with lots and lots of luck.

"Hey, Red!" That voice. Blue? Yeah, that was Blue striding up to me, cocky as always. "Wow, you actually took that Pikachu from Gramps? You must be _really_ impatient if you couldn't wait until he got some more Pokémon!"

A part of me wanted to tell him how this wasn't some garden variety Pikachu, but I decided not to. Special abilities or not, my Pikachu was still pretty mean-tempered. "Did you already challenge the Viridian Gym? How'd it go?"

Blue snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "The gym leader wasn't even there! Can you believe it? What sort of gym leader isn't there to accept trainers' challenges? And the guys inside had the nerve to kick me out and say they didn't know when he'd be back! Hmph!"

"I see…" Talk about a lucky break. "That means I'll have to challenge the Pewter City Gym first. Electric type moves aren't very effective against Rock type Pokémon…and most Rock type Pokémon in Kanto are part Ground type."

"Wait? Don't tell me you're actually thinking of taking on gyms with that electric rat? It'd probably shock the _gym leader_ instead of their Pokémon!"

I stared at the orange-haired boy. "…All Pikachu needs is obedience training. I'll make sure he becomes friendlier." I heard the electric mouse snort like that was a funny idea.

"Ha! I'll believe it when I see it." Blue turned around and pointed to the north. "If you can beat the gym leader over in Pewter City, I'll change my mind about you being worthy to be my rival! Smell ya later, Red!"

I sighed as I watched Blue walk away. If I encountered Blue again during this journey, it'd be too soon no matter _how_ long it was since we last met.

 **X-X-X**

The Viridian Forest on Route 2 was an opportunity to see Pokémon that I couldn't see in my own backyard. It meant Bug type Pokémon—several of which tended to evolve quicker than other kinds of Pokémon, and maybe even a Grass type like Oddish. But most importantly, it meant catching a Pokémon that might listen to me. Although the path through Viridian Forest was dark and foreboding, that thought gave me the courage to not only walk through it, but even walk into the tall grass. Occasionally, I would look down to see if my Pikachu was still there. He was still following behind, looking disinterested in the surroundings.

Along Route 2, it seemed as if every battle I had ended in close call victories—all because Pikachu refused to listen to me. When I told him to be defensive, he was offensive. When I told him to be offensive, he…slept or loafed about. I'm sure we only won because he wouldn't tolerate losing to some Pidgey, Rattata, Caterpie or Weedle. He seemed to have that much pride, at least. Too much, maybe, if he couldn't take orders in a fight.

"Nido!" A small, purple blur ran past my leg and tackled into Pikachu. I turned around and stared in surprise at the sight of a male Nidoran. They were one of the Poison types the signs outside of the forest warned about: capable of poisoning people easily with the barbs along its body. And it was _so close_ to scratching me with one of them as it ran past. I was so frightened by the thought, I forgot that the Nidoran was there. "Nido…!" It leered at Pikachu, who squeaked in fear. The Nidoran jumped at the Electric type, who dodged and quickly ran up into a tree. The Nidoran began tackling the base of the tree, shaking it hard enough to make leaves fall out.

"Pikachu! Use Thunder Wave to paralyze it!" I called out.

Pikachu glared at me. He began to bare his teeth and open his mouth. With a cry of pain, he blew out fire that wrapped around the Nidoran and gave it burns. The electric mouse looked exhausted, but happy that it was able to get the job done without listening to me…or so he thought before the flaming Nidoran's horn began to glow bright purple and fired pins at Pikachu that had enough force to knock him out of the tree. At that moment, the flames disappeared around the male Nidoran and it began to rear back, preparing to attack. Pikachu didn't look like he was moving. Panicking, I scrambled to grab a Poké Ball from my pocket and threw it at the Nidoran while it was charging. In a flash of light, the Nidoran disappeared into the ball, which shook for a few seconds before it made a clicking noise.

"Phew! Thank goodness…" I muttered as I went to pick up the Poké Ball. My very first Pokémon capture. How exciting! Wait. What about Pikachu? I ran over to the electric mouse and kneeled down in the grass. His eyes were still open, but his face was tinged with blue and he twitched every few seconds. "Could he be…poisoned?" I gulped. I wasn't sure if I could make it back to the Pokémon Center in time to cure him. I would have to cure him myself…unfortunately.

I took an Antidote out of my bag. Antidotes were long, red syringes filled with a poison-healing concoction. I _hated_ needles. I don't like being injected with needles or even the sight of them, and _holding_ one wasn't something I wanted to do, let alone _using_ it. With shaky hands, I held the antidote over Pikachu's back. What if I stabbed something important by accident and wound up killing him? But if I didn't do anything, he would die of poisoning! I steadied my hands as best I could and injected Pikachu in the back. Pushing down on the pump, the liquid inside was injected into the electric rodent until it was emptied out. The blue tinge disappeared from Pikachu's face and his twitching stopped. His breathing was somewhat labored, but Pikachu appeared to be okay. I slipped my new Nidoran's Poké Ball into my bag and took out a bottle of potion.

"I'm not sure if I have to do this…but I'll use this to disinfect the spot where I…injected you. Sorry if it hurts a little," I spoke to the semi-conscious Pokémon. I spritzed some potion onto the injection area, as well as the places where he was injured. I then took out Pikachu's Poké Ball and tried to recall him so he could properly rest. But even while he was injured, he refused to stay inside of the ball. "Look, you can't stay outside of the ball in this condition. You need to rest in your Poké Ball." Pikachu shook his head. "It's not like I have any way of carrying you…" My bag had too much stuff in it for him to be comfortable. The electric mouse got on his feet and resumed walking for only a few seconds before collapsing. Panicking, I scooped the Pikachu into my arms and got on my feet. "O-obviously you're not gonna be able to walk on your own. So I'll help you." His response was to bite my hand. "Ow! …You can do that all you like. But I won't put you down until you ether faint or we get to a Pokémon Center. So swallow your pride and let me help you!"

Pikachu stared up at me with large eyes. He relaxed in my arms and allowed me to carry him through the rest of Viridian Forest. At some point, he even started to snuggle up to my chest. Even if I wasn't sure this meant he liked me now, I was happy. At least we made some progress.

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **In the Kanto games, you're given a Pokémon for the sake of getting to Viridian City safely and going back to give Professor Oak a parcel rather than for your own devices.**

 **In Gen I, the Antidote had a design like a syringe. In Gen III (specifically FRLG), it was redesigned to look like a spray bottle the same as the potions.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Don't Trust Humans

**I've decided to continue this story, but only to help me out when I have writer's block for** _ **Cold Gray.**_ **Plus, I think I can have more fun changing up the Kanto storyline a bit. Also, this chapter introduces the second character who's going to narrate the story in their perspective. So if it's not Red narrating a chapter, it's gonna be…well, read on and you can guess for yourself.**

 _Disclaimer : Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Only this fic._

 **X-X-X**

 _I woke up to the sound of tapping. Opening my eyes, I stared forward until my vision cleared up. I jumped when I realized that I was in a clear box. I ran up to a wall and began to scratch my tiny paws against it. Next to the box I was in was another box. Inside was a Caterpie, running up the walls as quickly as its kind could. It had a look of fear in its large eyes and made worrisome noises. I looked in the box next to me and saw a Pidgey pecking at one of the walls of its box, trying to get free. I whimpered at the sight of my unfamiliar surroundings and tried to shock my way out. It did nothing but startle the Pokémon next to me, though._

 _Just then, a human appeared in front of my box and peered inside at me. I'd never seen humans up close until that day. Before, I would think about humans with curiosity and look forward to being big enough to head out on my own to catch a glimpse of the ones who traveled through the forest. Now I regret ever meeting them. "Aw, look at the itty-bitty Pikachu! …It_ _ **is**_ _a Pikachu, right?" The human asked. I think it was a female judging by the humps on its chest. She wore dark clothing with a big red marking on her chest that I would come to know as the letter 'R'. "I mean, it kinda_ _ **looks**_ _like a Pikachu."_

" _It's probably just a baby. If it survives long enough, you might get to see what a full grown one looks like," another voice spoke, but I couldn't see where they were._

" _Even if it survives, it might look uglier than a Weezing and a Muk combined when that doctor's through with it," the woman said as she walked away._

 _When they started to talk about survival, I began to shudder to the point where I shocked myself out of fright. I started to remember what happened. I was playing with my parents and siblings when these humans dressed in black appeared. They carried weird-looking sticks with ends that generated electricity and whips that cracked with the full force of a Grass type Pokémon. My parents told us to run, but I tripped while running away, and that was when I was attacked and blacked out. These humans, whoever they were, brought me to this scary-looking place. I couldn't help but start to cry._

" _The doctor's ready now. Start bringing in the subjects," I heard a third human speak._

 _The human woman approached the Pidgey's box and somehow opened it a bit. She then stuck one of those weird metal sticks inside and poked the Pidgey with the end. The bird was shocked by its tip and cried in such a painful way that I shocked myself from fright once more and scurried over to the corner of my box for safety. I watched, shaking, as the human grabbed the unconscious Pidgey from the box, held onto it tightly, and carried it away. I could only relax for a few seconds before the screaming began. Such awful screaming… It would stop for a few seconds only to resume after the humans brought back unconscious Pokémon and got another one to do whatever awful thing they were doing._

 _I don't know how long I sat there cowering, but finally, it was my turn to go through the pain. I tried to shock the human who came to get me, but they pricked me with something before I could. I felt my body relax against my will and wound up falling over. I couldn't move or attack. I couldn't resist being picked up by the human in black and carried off. I was taken into a room and placed on a cold, metal table, where I was strapped down while lying on my back. A different human hovered over me, this one clad in white and blue with his clothes and gloved hands stained red with blood. I wanted to cry as the white-clad human held a needle over my body and prepared to inject me…_

 _~Chapter 2: Don't Trust Humans~_

I couldn't understand humans. I simply couldn't. I was sure that if I treated that human boy—the one who introduced himself as Red, as if I'd wanted to know his dumb name—with as much hostility as I could, he'd wise up and let me go. I disobeyed him, I pretended that I was going to attack him, and I even attacked other humans to get him into trouble. But when I got poisoned and my life was on the line, he…had a look in his eyes. Something like concern. It reminded me of the parents I hadn't seen in so long, and wasn't something I expected from the stone-faced boy. He cured me, healed me, and even carried me in his arms against my will…but I liked it. When was the last time that a human being…or _anyone_ cared about my life that way?

Perhaps I wouldn't resort to killing him to gain my freedom just yet…

"Hey. Hey. Are you okay?" I glared down from my place in Red's arm at his newest…pet? Servant? I didn't know what we were to the boy, but after what happened, I didn't consider that stupid Nidoran my friend. The poisonous little…whatever it was had been sent out and allowed to walk alongside of us for protection. It was a sad thought that the thing I beat a while ago was responsible for our safety. "Sorry again for poisoning you like that."

"Don't…talk…to me," I spoke gruffly as I continued to glare at the Nidoran.

"B-but I want us to be friends, since we're going to be working under the same trainer."

"Huh? Trainer? Training for what?"

"Fighting, of course!" The poisonous Pokémon exclaimed as his eyes lit up. "The humans I've listened to use that word a lot when they have Pokémon fight each other. When they fight, they get stronger. And when they get stronger, they change form and evolve. I wanna be a Nidorino someday and get a really big horn!"

I scoffed and looked down at the Nidoran like he was an idiot. "Seriously? That's all you want in life? A big horn? Stupid…"

"Well…don't you want to evolve and change, too?"

"I don't wanna change. Change is bad." Instead, I wanna be a little Pichu again, living in my parents' nest, snuggling up with my siblings for warmth and touching our stubby tails together just to see pretty sparks. I want things to be normal again. I suddenly felt eyes staring at me and looked up at Red. He was looking at me with interest—or as much interest as I could make out from his blank eyes. "What're _you_ looking at?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

Red didn't understand, because he was just a human. He couldn't understand our conversation. For all he knew, we were getting along and being friendly with each other. He didn't say anything about it and went back to looking ahead. The red-eyed boy rubbed the spot on my back where he injected me. It ached a bit, but I was feeling much better. And I admit that I liked the feeling of his hand rubbing up against my back. I found myself moaning in pleasure, but quickly piped up and tried to look upset about it. "Heh-heh." Red gave a short laugh at my actions before giving my back another rub. How dare he take our close contact too far?! If I wasn't tired and wounded, and feeling lazy, I probably would've bitten him on the hand again!

We continued walking for a few more seconds before a rustling in the bushes made us stop in our tracks. Red gulped, probably expecting another stupid Nidoran, and I felt his body stiffen as he stood still. After seconds of tension, a Pikachu popped out and ran out in front of us. When it saw us, the mouse Pokémon froze and stared. My heart lifted. Maybe it was one of my parents! Or maybe a sibling who'd grown up while I was gone! I felt compelled to ask if we knew each other, but before I could ask, a female voice called out, "Piiiikachuuuu~! Where aaaare yoooou~?" The Pikachu didn't take more than a second to flee and run off into the tall grass. Seconds after that, a girl walked out. She had long, brown hair and green eyes, and wore a black dress with white gloves and boots. She looked about the same height as Red. "Tch! Where'd that Pikachu go?" She asked, looking around until she spotted us. "Ah! Pikachu! There you are!" Excuse me? I don't know you, you weird girl. The black-clad girl looked at Red and batted her eyes. "Um, that's my Pikachu you're holding. Could you please give it back to me?"

"No." Red's answer was quick and curt, his face blank.

The girl gasped and held a hand to her chest. "Thief! You're a thief! Only a thief would steal another person's Pokémon!"

"He isn't _your_ Pikachu. I just got him today. The Pikachu you're looking for is probably the one that ran past here a while ago."

"What?! Ugh, of all the rotten luck…!" The brunette girl flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Whatever. Say, why don't you gimme _your_ Pikachu?"

Red's eyes lit up and he looked at her with a bit more interest. "...You mean like a trade?" _Trade_?! You're not giving me away to some weird girl _just_ when I was starting to think you weren't totally awful!

The girl took a step closer, smiling brightly. "No, I meant _giving_ me your Pikachu. As a gift. Since, y'know, you chased off the Pikachu I was trying to get."

"Why would I do that?"

At this point, the girl was so close that I was in danger of being squeezed between her and Red's flat chests. I was seriously considering shocking them both just to get out of it. "Because I could make it worth your while…if you catch my _drift_ ," she said in a husky tone as she smirked.

"…How?"

The brunette girl gave him a weak glare. "Seriously? Just how immature _are_ you? What does _any_ boy want?" Red just fell silent and stared at her in confusion. I did the same thing. What _did_ boys want? And why was it so important that _I_ was a fair price for it?

"…Sorry, but whatever it is you want to give me, it isn't worth my Pikachu," Red spoke as he made to walk past the girl. However, she grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back. "Hey! You don't have to get mad."

"I'll get mad when I want to, you _rude_ little boy!" The black-clad girl snapped. "I was _nice_. I was _giving_. But now I'm gonna have to take that Pikachu by _force_!" She took out a ball not unlike the one I and that Nidoran had, all red and white. "Nina, go for it!" She tossed the ball up into the air and in a flash of light, another Nidoran appeared. This, though, was blue, with a less pronounced horn and smaller spikes. The blue Nidoran growled, trying to look intimidating.

"A female Nidoran. I won't just let you take my Pokémon. Go, Nidoran!" Red's purple Nidoran ran forward and began to rear his back, also failing to growl in an intimidating way.

"If you lose, you'll be sorry," I muttered under my breath before the battle began.

"Nina, Tackle 'em!" The girl commanded her blue Nidoran. It lowered its head and charged forward, ramming into the purple one.

"Horn Attack." The purple Nidoran's horn glowed before using it to jab the blue one in the chest.

"Use Scratch!"

"Dodge, then Tackle." Just the blue one pounced forward, scratching furiously, the purple one sidestepped the attacked and charged forward, striking the female in the side with enough force to send it flying into a tree. The blue Nidoran slid down to the ground and twitched a few times before fainting.

"Ugh, a critical hit! Return, Nina!" The girl returned her Nidoran into its ball with a beam of light. "Go, Mellow!" From another ball, came a different Pokémon. This one was round and pink as a Pecha berry, with big blue eyes and tiny hands and feet.

"A Jigglypuff, huh? I know you're up to," said Red. I looked up at him in confusion. I'd like to know what _he_ knew, because _I_ couldn't tell from looking at that jiggly thing. "Nidoran, whatever you do, don't look it in the eye. Just close your eyes, rely on your hearing, and I'll direct you." Why? What was so important about this? "Use Tackle. Aim straight ahead!" Nidoran closed his eyes and darted forward.

"Jump, Mellow!" The jiggly thing took a breath and jumped up into the air, avoiding the attack. It began to float up above Nidoran—not flying by flapping its wings, but just floating there like cotton spores drifting on a breeze. To think there were Pokémon that could do things like _this_.

"Aim up and use Poison Sting." As Red commanded, Nidoran raised his head and fired tiny, glowing purple pins from his horn. They hit the pink Pokémon from below and forced it to open its mouth, making it float down quickly. "Now! Jump up and use Horn Attack!" Nidoran jumped up into the air and jabbed the jiggly thing from below. When they both landed, Nidoran landed on his feet while the jiggly thing landed face first on the ground.

"Sing, Mellow!" The girl exclaimed, sounding desperate. The jiggly thing began to sing a few bars. Its voice sounded soothing and lovely like a lullaby. I wanted to fall asleep there, but Red's voice snapped me out of it.

"Use Poison Sting to stop it." Nidoran fired another barraged of poisonous pins at the pink thing. When they made impact, the Jiggly thing stopped singing due to the pain.

"Hey, no fair! Closing your eyes is one thing, but at least don't interrupt my Jigglypuff's singing!" The girl snapped, shaking a fist at Red.

"This is how battles go. A smart trainer doesn't sit around and wait to fall asleep. Nidoran, use Horn Attack!" Red's Nidoran dashed forward and stabbed at the jiggly thing with his horn.

The impact sent it flying towards the girl, who caught it while it was floating down gently. The pink thing didn't move an inch and just twitched in pain with blank eyes. She looked at Red and growled. "You jerk! How dare you knock out my Pokémon?!"

"You know, _you_ challenged _me_ to a battle." Yeah! You tell her, Red! "You should learn a thing or two about Pokémon battles before you start challenging people again."

"Ugh! Just…gimme your Pikachu! I can't…!" The girl trailed off and glared at us before sniffing. "Alright! I confess!" She cried with watery eyes. "The truth is that one of my Pokémon got stolen by some mean thugs in Diglett's Cave! I was trying to catch something that could beat them, and I figured that a Pikachu was the strongest thing to find in this forest!" Oh, thank you for the compliment. I don't forgive you, but thank you. "So…since you're _sooo strong_ …could you come with me to Diglett's cave and help me…please?" She asked with eyes as big as that jiggly thing she was holding in her arms.

I stared at the girl, not impressed. Red seemed like a smart boy. He wouldn't help a person like this after she tried to steal me away by brute force!

"So your Pokémon got stolen? …Okay. I guess I could help." I bit down on Red's hand. "Ow! Pikachu!"

"Are you an idiot?! Why would you help someone who tried to do what she did?!" I snapped at him. But of course, I wasn't understood.

"I know you're mad, but she only did what she did for her Pokémon. I wouldn't do the same thing, but I understand. That shows how much she loves her Pokémon," Red told me. She did _that_ out of love? I thought love was supposed to be _gentle_ … He then looked at the girl. "What's your name?"

"…You can call me Green." First Red and Blue, and now Green. What's next? A person named Yellow?

"I'm Red. Don't worry, Green. I'll try my best to help you get back your Pokémon."

"Thanks. You're a real sweetheart. Once you help me out, I might give you a kiss," the girl said with a wink. I felt Red stiffen and when I looked up, his eyes were wide and his cheeks were bright red for only a second before his normal blank expression reappeared. Green giggled and smiled. "You really _are_ a boy. C'mon, I'll lead you to the cave."

What was it about that smile that made me feel uncomfortable?

 **X-X-X**

Minutes later, we were walking through a cave that was just outside of the forest. I feel as if I'd seen it before while peeking through the bushes. I'd seen small brown Pokémon poking their heads out of the ground before in the entrance of the cave, but I didn't see one from the moment we set foot in here. Maybe they were afraid of humans and were hiding. I know _I_ would, at least _now_.

The girl named Green was the one leading the way. Thinking about her smile still made me feel uncomfortable. It reminded me of the kind of smiles the humans who had me before would give me. Their smiles never fit the bad things they would say or the evil look in their eyes. I wondered if she was lying about something. Was she still going to try and steal me away from Red?

"I'm _sure_ they're somewhere in here. Um…could you walk ahead of me? All my Pokémon were knocked out, so I don't have anything to defend myself if they should attack."

"Sure thing." Red took the lead and I looked over his shoulder at Green. The look in her eyes, the smirk on her face…wasn't like the worried expression she had before. I was feeling well enough by now to crawl out of Red's grip and climb up onto his shoulder. "Pikachu? What are you doing?"

I ignored Red and glared at the brunette girl. "I don't trust you," I spoke plainly as I pointed at her. She merely arched an eyebrow and waved at me. Of course she didn't understand me. "If you're lying, I will hurt you. I will make you regret doing this."

"Humans can't understand you, you know," said Nidoran.

"I don't care, you walking pincushion!" I snapped before looking back at Green. "Now where was I? Oh, yeah. If you lie, you die. You hurt me, I hurt me. You hurt Red, I…will bite you, I guess. You can do what you want to the Nidoran, though. I don't care about him _at all_."

"What?!" The talking pincushion exclaimed in shock.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" At that moment, screams of fear and pain echoed from deeper in the cave. In the dark, I could see three humans running towards us, each carrying sticks in their hands that shone a light on us. The humans didn't bother to stop running at the sight of us and actually pushed us over.

"HEY! Where do you idiots think you're going?!" Green snapped, jumping to her feet.

Red looked down at the ground. "It looks as if they dropped something." He bent over, prompting me to cling to his vest to stay on his shoulder, and picked up a plain-looking bag like Red's. "What's in here?"

"Aha! Gimme that!" The brown-haired girl snatched the bag from Red's hand before he could open it. "This is _my_ bag, so no peeking~!" She spoke in a sing-song tone as she wagged a finger at Red and smiled. Once again, her smile didn't match the shady look in her eyes. Green turned her back on us and looked inside. "…Yup. Everything's in here."

"Huh. I guess you didn't need me after all." Which means you were nice for nothing. Good job, Red. My opinion of you just got worse. "I'm glad your Pokémon are safe. I'm sure they missed you."

"Yeah. Um…thanks again. Offering to help was still pretty nice of you. …Of course, I'm not gonna give you a kiss again, since, y'know, you did nothing." Green slipped her balls into her bag and then put it on her back before turning around. "Welp! I'll be heading off! Maybe we'll meet again, Red!"

"Um! Wait a minute…!" Red spoke up, holding up a hand to stop Green. She looked back at him with an arched eyebrow. "I…know this sounds strange, but…have we met before? It's just that…something about you seems familiar."

Green's face was as blank as Red's then. But it only lasted for a few seconds before she winked and smiled in a way that didn't show in her eyes. "I guess I just have one of those familiar faces! Maybe you're mistaking me with a _movie star_!"

"No, that's not it," the boy spoke, making the girl sputter and glare at him.

"You _really_ don't understand girls, huh? Whatever. Maybe I'll see you and your cute Pokémon again. Ciao!" With a wave, Green left the way she came. Good riddance.

"I'm glad _that's_ over," I muttered as I jumped down from Red's shoulder and onto the cave floor.

"But…I didn't get to fight anyone…!" Nidoran sounded kind of whiny.

"Quit crying. Red likes to fight against other trainers with Pokémon, so you'll get into _plenty_ of fights."

Red, who had been staring down at the ground, suddenly looked up. "Wait a minute." He then looked down the way the three humans came running from. "Those guys were screaming when they ran by. Did they see something further in?" He had a point. Why would the guys that Green said stole her Pokémon be running away? It had to be something _really_ big and ferocious. "I think we should go and check it out," he told me and Nidoran.

"Yay! Battles!" The walking pincushion exclaimed.

"Yay. Nuisances," I spoke flatly.

"At the very least we could find a Diglett to catch. They're Ground type Pokémon, so they'd be useful against the gym leader of the Pewter City Gym, who uses Rock type Pokémon," Red explained. "See, Rock types are resilient against Poison and Electric type moves and they often know Ground type moves, which are very strong against Pokémon of your typing. So…don't be mad over this. If I had more skill as a trainer, I could probably win despite the type disadvantage. But if we win in the Pewter Gym, we can go to the next gym, which uses _Water_ type Pokémon, and then I can use you two." Nidoran cheered and nodded while I just stared off to the side, disinterested. What made him think I wanted to fight his battles for him, anyway?

We then took off down the cave path in search of these Diglett that Red was so interested in. However, nothing popped up. Instead, what we found was…I'm not even sure _what_ it was. It stood on two feet with bright orange skin covered in thick, visibly prominent scales that made me itchy just looking at it. It had a long tail with a flame at the end, which was pretty interesting. I'd only ever seen fires as a result of Pikachu and Pichu making sparks. The orange Pokémon didn't seem to notice us, because it seemed distracted with clawing away at the dirt wall and peeling off bits of those scales with the same claw.

"A _Charmander_ …!" Red whispered, sounding awed by this scaly-looking weirdo. "I've never seen one in person…!"

The Charmander, as Red had called it, seemed to hear him. It stopped clawing the wall and looked in our direction. It had a crazy look on its face: shrunken pupils, twitching snout, heavy breathing, and what seemed to be fire building up in its mouth. Wait… Uh-oh. "RAAAAAAAHH!" The crazy Charmander screamed and spat out tiny flames at us. The three of us ran out of the way to avoid being hit and getting burned.

"Hey! Don't spit fire at us! I'll spit fire at _you_!" I growled before dropping down on all fours and gritting my teeth. If I focused hard enough, I could do… _things_. Things that must've been special, because the humans that I think did this to me made it sound like a big deal. Even that old guy who gave me to Red thought it was amazing when I broke that one guy's leg when I was just trying to scratch him.

Of course, there were problems with this ability. For one thing, I never really knew what I would do when I used it. Today I was able to breathe fire, but yesterday, I sang a little song and put the old human to sleep. One time I even blew myself up—not my best moment, _that_ one. And every time I would try to tap into that ability, I'd feel like I was being torn apart from the inside. Sure, it wasn't smart to use it all the time…but I was angry. And I wanted to show that crazy Charmander that you didn't mess with me!

I erected my tail straight up and felt an intense heat building up in my gut. I opened my mouth, felt the flames rise up from my throat and into my mouth. Ignoring the pain that was building up, I screamed and fired a steam of swirling flames at my target. When the attack hit, the Charmander didn't flinch. In fact, it just ran forward, its entire body on fire, and jumped onto me, pinning me to the ground. As if its burning body wasn't bad enough, it began to scratch me furiously.

"You want a piece of _me_?! You can't handle me! I'M NOT GOING BACK THERE!" The orange Pokémon screamed at me as it continued to scratch me. My vision was starting to blur. I was sure I was going to black out from either the blows or the burns.

"Nidoran, use Horn Attack! Knock it off!" I heard Red's voice, and just after that, I saw the orange creature get pushed off of me by Nidoran.

"Are you okay?" Nidoran asked me, sounding concerned.

"I _didn't_ need your help!" I snapped as I got up. I was about to run forward, only to feel a pain in my paws. I looked down and stared at my singed fur and slightly burned paws that made me wince in pain just looking at them.

"Nidoran, keep the Charmander preoccupied," I heard Red speak before I found myself being picked up by the boy. I squirmed in his hands, not because I didn't want to be held, but because it _hurt_. "Did that hurt? I'm sorry. Just let me heal this…" I prayed it wasn't going to be another needle, and to my relief, it was a bottle instead. I listened to the sounds of Nidoran fighting that crazy Charmander who kept saying crazy things.

"I won't lose! I _can't_ lose! If I lose, I'll be _punished_! If I lose, they'll stick _more_ needles in me and I'm gonna feel _worse_! I'll _kill you_ before that happens!"

"Punished? Needles?" Why did that sound familiar…?

 **X-X-X**

 _I couldn't move. I was too tired to move. I'd tried so hard to survive—to not wind up like those dead Pokémon I saw being carried out. I had felt my body change shape, but that moment of surprise was interrupted by my opponent's foot pressing down on me. I couldn't win against that gray thing, so thick-skinned and heavy. I thought I was going to die, but then I felt my pain relieved with only two words._

" _Return, Rhyhorn. …I think that's enough for today." Enough. If I could move, I think I'd cheer._

" _I'm surprised you didn't try and kill this one, boss."_

" _Hmph. It couldn't win, but it lasted longer than the others during this session. It even evolved to give itself that extra boost of power. That means_ _ **this**_ _one has potential. You need to train it more thoroughly." What? No! No more training! No more whips!_

" _It's a_ _ **Pikachu**_ _, boss. It's not like they're very strong to begin with."_

" _That's why we're_ _ **making**_ _it strong. Tell the scientists to speed up their research and continue the experiments. And while you're at it, find some replacements for those Pokémon who couldn't cut it."_

" _Right, boss! We'll get on it at once!" I felt myself get picked up, suddenly realizing how much heavier my body felt now, and was carried to a slightly bigger box to suit my new size. There was only one Pokémon next to me this time. Its creamy white fur had red splotches on it and it had a scratched up gold coin on its head. Part of its face had been burned, revealing a nasty-looking burnt flesh, and one of its eyes was swollen shut. I was too tired to move, and I think so was it. So we just laid there, staring at each other until I finally blacked out from the pain._

 **X-X-X**

I heard a clicking sound and snapped out of my memories. I had been resting next to Red's bag and half-empty bottles of the stuff he used to make me feel better. Nidoran looked badly burned, too, and the first thing Red did was pick up the same stuff he used on me to make the little pincushion feel better. He then walked up to the small, red and white ball on the ground that hadn't been there before. He picked it up cautiously before gripping it tightly and smiling.

"A…a Charmander. A _Charmander_." He looked down at Nidoran and I. "We caught a _wild_ Charmander! How often does _that_ happen? Blue's gonna flip when I show him this!" Red was smiling, which looked strangely nice to me. He looked good when he was smiling—much better than that shady Green or that cocky Blue. He should do it more often.

Wait, why did I care? _When_ did I care? I had to get away from this kid before something bad happened to me because of him. Dealing with humans only leads to trouble…

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" See? More trouble! We turned around to find another human running towards us. He brown spiky hair and his eyes looked like they were either closed or squinting. The expression on his face could only be described as angry. "What did you do to that Charmander?"

"I…I caught it. Was I not supposed to?" Red asked. "Is…is it yours?"

"Hm? Oh, no. I'm not into Fire types. But I found it while I was taking a walk through this cave. It kept scratching at the walls, and it bit and scratched itself, so I got worried. I tried to convince it to come back with me to Pokémon Center in Pewter City, but it went nuts and tried to attack me! I figured I'd need to get some Poke Balls and catch it first, so I left to get some, but then I got caught up in some matters and…well, I came back here to find _you_."

"Oh. Sorry."

The closed-eyed man smiled. "Don't be! You should be proud of yourself! Not many people can say they have Charmander, let alone one that they've caught themselves from the wild. But if you could, kid, promise me a couple of things."

"Promise what?"

The man held up a finger. "First, promise me you'll head straight for Pewter City and get that Charmander treated at the Pokémon Center."

"Okay. I was going there anyway."

"Second, promise you're gonna give that Pokémon all the love it needs. When I found it, it looked so miserable…so I want you to make it happy, okay? Pokémon are living beings with feelings of their own, after all."

"Of course. I don't want to see any of my Pokémon in pain." Why does he say nice things like that? It's like he's trying to change my opinion of him! Even though all he's done so far is be nice to me…so it isn't like he's not living up to his words…

"Alright then! Since we're heading the same way, I'll take you to the Pokémon Center in Pewter City."

Red bowed his head. "Thank you very much, Mister…um…"

"Brock. Just call me Brock. And I'm too young to be called a _mister_ , y'know…"

 **X-X-X**

Later, we went in another Pokémon Center. Although I didn't like to go inside of that stupid ball, I did it just so I could be healed quickly. Whenever I came out, it was like my injuries never happened. _Much_ nicer than those bottles and needles Red kept using on me. After that, we wound up getting a room on the second floor with a nice, soft bed that Red didn't seem to mind me bouncing on. Red got out Nidoran to feed him some berries and affectionately scratch the parts of him that weren't covered in poisonous needles before putting him back inside of his ball. I was _not_ jealous for _any_ of that, and I refuse to listen to what that walking pincushion _thinks_ happened. After Nidoran was his new Charmander, I guess. Red took a while to stare at the ball and take deep breaths, like he was prepping up for something. What was so scary about _that_ guy that wasn't so bad about that poisonous Nidoran?

When the Charmander was released, it didn't look as crazy as it did before. Instead, it looked scared. It looked around, not really sure what was going on, and when it spotted Red, the orange Pokémon yelped and began to shudder. Red stared at the scaly little weirdo in awe before reaching out a hand. The Charmander stepped back and flames began to build up in its mouth. Red's hand stopped. "There, there. I'm not going to hurt you." Slowly, the human boy reached out and petted the Charmander on the head. The flames in its mouth died down, although it continued to shudder under his touch. "You're…so warm…" Red mumbled as a slight blush appeared on his cheeks. "L-like you should. A Fire type that isn't warm isn't a healthy one. H-here." He held out some Oran berries. "I'm not sure if Fire types have a preferred berry, though…"

The Charmander stared at the berries for a few tense seconds. Cautiously, the orange Pokémon took a berry from Red's hand and stepped back to eat it quickly, still keeping its eyes on him. After a few seconds of staring, the Charmander grabbed another Oran, this time bringing its flame-tipped tail in front of it and roasting the berry over the flame before eating it.

Red seemed happy after Charmander finished all its food. He then started to pet it along its back. "Your scales really _are_ soft… The nurse said you were probably in a state of confusion when we found you, and that's why you kept hurting yourself. She also said to make sure you don't take off any more of your scales until they've hardened, because if you do, you'll hurt yourself. You also shouldn't scratch yourself as often as you do, especially when digging in the dirt. You'll infect the parts of your body that are still raw from taking the scales off, and get sick, and… I just don't want to see you cause yourself anymore pain, okay, Charmander? Please?" Charmander stared at Red for a few seconds before retreating to a corner of the room. He laid down on the floor and stared at Red from that spot. The boy sighed. "Well, at least he hasn't attacked me yet. But…" He took out that same bright red thing that the old guy had been showing off before. "I didn't think a Charmander could _have_ scales like that. …It looks so cool." _That's_ your reaction? At least don't have that _blank look_ on your face when you say things like that out loud! "Maybe I should ask Professor Oak about this. He should know about stuff like this, shouldn't he…?" Red got up and released Nidoran, who looked up at him eagerly. "I'm leaving for a little while to make a call. While I'm gone, I want you two to try and make Charmander feel welcome. Please play nice and don't use your attacks in here." He then left, closing the door behind him.

"Make 'em feel welcome. Okay." Nidoran approached Charmander in the corner. "Hi there! What're you doing hiding in a corner like that? Come try the bed!"

"No… He won't like that." The Charmander, a male one from the sound of its voice, spoke timidly.

"He let Pikachu on the bed, and all _he_ does is complain and get angry."

"I do _not_ complain, you pincushion!" I snapped from the bed before jumping down. "You think winning a couple of fights makes you better than me?! If I was feeling up to it, Red would've won _all_ his battles more quickly!" I then turned to the Charmander, who flinched when I did. "And _you_ …! How _dare_ you burn me, you…walking bonfire?!"

"What's a bonfire?" Nidoran asked.

Charmander recoiled and held his claws over his eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!"

For some reason, I suddenly felt bad. I sighed and patted the Charmander on his head. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Just…don't burn me again. Or Red. Don't burn Red, because he actually seems to… _care_ about your crazy self for some reason."

"I'M NOT CRAZY!" Charmander shouted. The flame on his tail suddenly grew in size for a moment, so Nidoran and I did the _smart_ thing and jump back in surprise. The flame eventually shrank down and Charmander looked embarrassed. "I…I just…get _really_ angry sometimes…and I black out. And when I can finally think again, people say I did _bad_ things. And then I get punished… Is he gonna punish me when he gets back? I-is it bad? Does it hurt a lot?"

"Red doesn't punish us. If he _did_ , he'd have punished Pikachu by now," said Nidoran.

"Every time you open your mouth, something stupid comes out," I spoke flatly. "But he's right… Red's a nice human." I figured he would've let me die of burns and poisoning if he wasn't. "So be nice to him and do what he says. Don't make him worry by hurting yourself, either," I spoke sternly.

"Hmmm… But I get so _itchy_ all the time!" He started to scratch his scales as he said that.

I smacked his claws away from his body, "Stop that! Would you rather be itchy or sick and dying?"

"…Itchy, I guess. But I wasn't like this _before._ I was normal before those humans in black came along."

I blinked. "Humans in black…?" I wondered if those were the same humans who hurt me. If so, then maybe Charmander was no different than me.

But before I could ask him more, the door opened and Red came back in. "I'm back." He approached the three of us and crouched down in front of us. "I hope you guys are at least used to each other now. We're going to have to learn to work together from now on. My goal on my journey is…to challenge all the Pokémon gyms and collect 8 badges in order to challenge the strongest trainers in Kanto's Indigo League: the Elite 4. The person who beats them can become the Champion of Indigo League, the trainer with the strongest Pokémon team in Kanto. It's what most normal boys dream about," he said with a smile. The smile lasted for only a few seconds. "But…if none of you really like to fight, I don't think you'd have much fun traveling with me. So you can have a choice: you can stay with me and train to become the strongest team, or you can leave and enjoy a peaceful life in the wild. What do you guys say?"

"I wanna be strong!" Nidoran spoke resolutely as he nodded. "Let's be the best team ever!"

"Nidoran wants to stay." Red looked at me and Charmander. "Pikachu? Charmander? Do you want to stay?"

Charmander's eyes began to water and he started to cry. He suddenly launched himself at Red and buried his face into his chest, sobbing, "I…don't…want…to be…alone again! I don't…! WAAAAHHHH!"

Red stroked Charmander's back. "There, there. Are you saying you want to travel with me?"

"Y- _yes_! I wanna come! I wanna come!" The Charmander said, nodding quickly.

Red then looked at me and we stared at each other for a few seconds before he spoke "I know that when we started, you didn't like me. And I admit, I didn't really like you, either." Aha! So you admit it! "But I think for the short time we spent together, we became a little closer. I'd…like it if we could be even closer, Pikachu, because…you're my first Pokémon. The reason why I was able to start this journey is you, and I'm grateful to you for that. So…do you want to stay with me?"

I don't know why…but I felt stunned by his words. I had a choice. He would've released me if I wanted to leave then and there, just like I wanted from the beginning. But…instead, I nodded. I may have done that because I thought I owed him for choosing to save my life, or to make sure that he treated Charmander nicely like he promised, or even because I thought there was no way I could go back to my normal life ever again…but I figured that I could stay with him. At least until he did what he wanted to do, or he decided not to do it anymore.

Red smiled again. He really did have a nicer smile than most of the humans I met. "That's great! Um… We can train a little later, and maybe early tomorrow morning if we get up early enough. And tomorrow afternoon, we'll challenge the Pewter City gym leader. But for now, maybe we should rest." Red plopped himself down on the bed and laid down on his back. "It's not easy sleeping in a strange bed. I miss home..."

Nidoran jumped up onto the bed and next to Red, making sure not to touch him with his poisonous spikes. After a few seconds, Charmander approached the bed and stared at Red warily for a few seconds before trying to climb up onto it. Red reached over to help him up and placed him on the side of him opposite of Nidoran. Then they all looked at me. I gave all three of them a half-lidded stare. "You want me to get on there with the bonfire and the poison pincushion? …Fine. But I'm not touching either of them." I jumped up onto the bed and curled up next to Red's head, closing my eyes. When I cracked an eye open, I saw him smiling, and for some reason, it made me feel better.

 **X-X-X**

 **Review for the sake of Blu and Pikachu!**


	3. Chapter 3 - A Rock Hard Pokemon Trainer

**A big thanks to everyone who's decided to follow this story! Here's hoping I won't let you down!**

 _Disclaimer : Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Only this fic._

 _Chapter Summary : The time has come: Red challenges the Pewter City Gym to begin the road to Indigo League Champ! But can his current team stand up to the rock-hard might of Rock types?_

 **X-X-X**

 _I had been looking out of my window, watching kids from school quickly run past our house, when there came a tap at my door. "Red! Blue's here!" Came Mom's voice._

 _I couldn't have felt happier when I opened my bedroom door and saw Blue standing out in the hall, still dressed in his school uniform with his book bag. A lot of kids our age didn't like Blue because of his attitude, but truth be told, he deserved his arrogance. Like me, Blue was smarter than most children his age, and most that were older than him as well. His intelligence, talent and potential along with adults' expectations of him had isolated him, in a way. Just like me. That may have been why I was so attracted to him. We were alike._

 _Or at least, we used to be alike until a week ago. I had a meltdown and…_ _ **made**_ _things happen. My mom said that there was a chance that I had psychic powers, and that scared all but a handful of people who lived in town. That, in turn, made Mom scared to send me out of the house for fear of how I'd be treated. It didn't matter if I was sorry and that I didn't mean to hurt anyone. Everyone thought of me like some kind of monster. A rabid wild Pokémon to be put down if I caused too much trouble. Although I never cared for socializing before, this new kind of isolation…hurt._

 _Luckily for me, Blue and his family was still friendly towards me. That may have been because Blue and his grandfather had gone to Cinnabar Island to meet with his father, a scientist who worked in a lab there. But there was an explosion on the island on the same day that my "powers" appeared. I don't know most of the details, but…I know that Blue's father was amongst the casualties. Blue would complain about his overbearing father often, but…from what my mother heard, he had taken his death hard._

 _So I was surprised when he just waltzed into my room as he usually did, looking no different than he did before. "Hey, Red! You owe me for being nice enough to get your homework for you from the teacher at the same time I got mine! Like, I want half of your lunch for my good deed!" Blue exclaimed as he handed me some worksheets._

" _Th…thanks…" I mumbled shyly._

" _You'd_ _ **better**_ _thank me! By the way, look at what_ _ **I**_ _got~!" The orange-haired boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. But not just any card. It was a holofoil Charizard card from the latest Pokémon Trading Card set. I was in awe. I reached a hand out to touch it, but Blue held it out of my reach. "Nuh-uh-uh! I'll trade this to you for your Blastoise—the shiny one with the cool pose!"_

" _Okay."_

" _Wait, seriously?! You gave in_ _ **waaay**_ _too quick! It's pathetic!" I didn't care, because I liked Charizard more than Blastoise._

 _We later wound up doing our homework together, connected our Gameboy links and challenged each other to Pokémon battles, and Blue even stayed over for dinner with the excuse of his sister having gone back to school in Celadon and his grandfather cooking his most hated dish: spinach casserole. When he finally had to go home as a result of his grandfather calling our house, I wound up hugging Blue at the door. Knowing Blue, he would usually push me off and ask what I was trying to do. But instead, he stood still for a few seconds before patting me on the back and saying that he had to leave, promising to keep count of all the homework assignments he would bring me until I came back to school. His way of saying "Get well soon," I guess._

 _I really did like Blue. He was nicer than most people knew. I just wish our friendship could've stayed that way…because I think he was one of the few people who understood me._

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 3: A Rock-Solid Pokémon Trainer!~_

I sighed as the upset young lass walked away from me, muttering about my rudeness for not letting her win at our battle. I paid her little mind, though, because I was too busy writing in my journal. Mom had given it to me for the sake of writing down my progress on my journey, but so far, the things I wrote about were notes on Pikachu and Charmander with their respective quirks, moves I wished to teach my Pokémon, the moves they learned that day, a sort of training schedule, and a draft of a strategy against the Gym Leader of the Pewter City Gym, with the addition of drawings and doodles.

"Let's go back to the Pokémon Center, Pikachu." I told the Electric type mouse. I got a nod and a cry that sounded like one of boredom in response. Pikachu and I were still far from bosom buddies, but he was listening to me in battles now and I no longer had to leave trails of berries behind me. I considered that progress. Likewise with Charmander. Although he no longer made to burn me whenever I pet him for a good job and hadn't scratched off any scales since I said not to, he still flinched at my touch and he occasionally still got confused and ran about attacking people and Pokémon. I really hoped that we could get along better one day.

After returning the center and leaving my Pokémon to be healed by the nurses, I decided to try and call Professor Oak again. He had been unavailable yesterday as, according to an aide, he was doing research outside of town. I figured I would contact him before going off to challenge the Pewter City Gym and get an opinion on Charmander.

" _Oh, good morning, Red! I heard from one of my aides that you called yesterday. So sorry I wasn't there,"_ Professor Oak's voice came from the other end of the line.

"That's okay, Professor." I still felt so grateful to him for this opportunity, I didn't want to dig into him the way Blue might. "I wanted to talk to you about a Pokémon I caught yesterday," I said as I flipped open my Pokédex and scrolled down to the section on Charmander.

" _Oh, yes! I receive the information on my computer whenever you or Blue capture a Pokémon."_ Technology really is amazing. _"You caught a Nidoran and a_ _ **Charmander**_ _! I must say that I'm surprised you managed to find one in the wild! They're quite a rarity—so rare that often when you find trainers with one, there's a bigger chance of it having been bred and domesticated from birth than caught straight from the wild, especially from anywhere between Pewter and Viridian."_

"I figured. But what I'm calling to ask you about is Charmander. See, he has these scales and…" I explained Charmander's situation with his peculiar scales and his tendency to suddenly go into a frenzy.

" _I see… In the case of its scales, I've never heard of a Charmander or any of its evolutions shedding in that manner. Usually they shed in a manner similar to Ekans and Arbok from the head down. As for the sudden anger, I'd assume it knew Rage, but if it does that without being commanded to do it, it could be a problem. I could understand it better if I was able to inspect it in person, though."_

"O-oh… Well, I'm about to go challenge a gym, so…"

" _That's okay. You're in Pewter City, right? Tell you what: once you arrive in Cerulean, why don't you send me your Charmander? Then you can spend time looking around, seeing the sights, and I'll return it to you as soon as possible!"_

"But…I'd be wasting time…" Although I didn't intend to rush off and challenge gym leaders the moment I entered a town, I didn't like the idea of Blue getting far ahead of me.

" _Are you worried about Blue?"_ I felt a blush rise to my cheeks as the professor laughed. _"There's nothing wrong with taking time to enjoy life and seeing places outside of Pallet Town, Red. You'll never know_ _ **what**_ _you'll find! For instance, on the cape of Cerulean City, there's a man named Bill who's known as a Poké Maniac because of his rare Pokémon collection!"_

"Okay… I'll think about it." I had never really cared about places outside of Pallet Town, unlike most travel-hungry kids who were eager to get their trainer's license of leaving home.

" _Speaking of your Pokémon, how's your Pikachu?"_

"We're getting along better now. He's listening to my commands, at least. And, in the case of his condition…" I looked through my journal for a certain page. "Yesterday, he knew Fire Spin until while checking Pikachu over with my Pokédex, I noticed that he had learned a new move in its place: Seismic Toss."

" _Seismic Toss?! Oh, dear, that sounds dangerous."_

"I know… I haven't dared to try it yet because I'm worried about Pikachu hurting himself. He always seems to be in pain whenever he does those moves…"

" _O-oh, I meant dangerous for_ _ **you**_ _, but I know what you mean. However, it_ _ **is**_ _possible for Pikachu to learn Seismic Toss through artificial means like Technical Machines, so it's much more reasonable than it being able to breathe fire."_

"Is that so…?" Maybe I could use that to my advantage in the Pewter Gym battle. Rock types were weak against Fighting type moves, after all. But still…what if what Professor Oak said didn't matter and using Seismic Toss still harmed Pikachu? I'd feel awful if he hurt himself because of me.

" _Anyway, don't let me hold you up from challenging the Pewter Gym! Blue told me he'd be challenging it as soon as he woke up this morning, and I know you don't want to get too far behind him."_

"Right. Thanks again, Professor. Have a nice day." After saying goodbye and hanging up, I picked up my Pokémon from the front counter and left the Pokémon Center with Pikachu trailing behind me.

 **X-X-X**

The Pewter City Gym was a large building made of gray stone on the outside, its name carved on the side of the glass double doors that stuck out. I would've read the sign promoting the gym to learn the Gym Leader's name, but the sound of the doors opening made me look forward. There was Blue, walking out of the gym with a look of satisfaction on his face and his fist balled up as if clutching something. The moment he saw me, he smirked and made his way over to me.

"Hey, Red! Are you only _just_ now challenging the Pewter Gym?" I wanted to point out that he had only challenged it today, too, but decided to remain silent. "Well, I understand. You probably had to search high and low for a better Pokémon to go into battle with than that Pikachu of yours!" He laughed. From behind me, I glanced behind me and saw Pikachu building up electricity as he glared daggers at Blue. Before I could stop him, he unleashed a jolt of electricity—a small one that would still hurt, but do no serious damage. "OW! Hey, control your Pokémon!"

"Then don't insult him when he's standing right in front of you." Pikachu seemed to smirk as he nodded in agreement.

Blue snorted. "Whatever… Not even that mouse can get me down right now, because _I_ just won the Boulder Badge!" He then proceeded to show off the small, gray badge that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight. "Jealous?"

"No. I'll get it today, too."

"Well, if you _do_ , we can have a battle and prove which of us is stronger! Though I'm not expecting much from you…" Blue walked past me a bit before turning around. "I'll be waiting by the exit leading to Route 3! Of course, if you take too long, I'll probably just leave."

"I'll purposely be late then," I answered flatly.

"Oh! What a comedian! You're such a riot!" Blue mocked me before turning his back on me. "Smell ya later, Red!"

Pikachu turned around to growl at Blue and glare at him. "I know, I know… Blue takes a little time to get used to. Actually…he takes a lot of time. But he's a nice person _very_ _deep down_ …sometimes." The electric mouse gave me a skeptical look. "Forget Blue for now. Let's focus on winning our first gym badge!"

Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the building. To my surprise, when I walked in, it looked more like a lobby. I was soon approached by a boy around my age wearing the sort of gear I saw boy scouts wear on TV. "Hey! Have you come to challenge the Pewter Gym?"

"Yes. Are you the gym leader?" I didn't think someone so young could be a gym leader.

"Heh! I'm not the gym leader, but if you're walking in here with a _Pikachu_ , you're lightyears away from beating _me_ , let alone—!" A hand from behind the boy suddenly came down on top of his head, forcing his cap down over his eyes.

"Take it easy, Liam. After that last kid, you shouldn't judge a trainer's skill by the type of Pokémon they bring in here." The hand belonged to that guy from yesterday. What was his name again? Brock. "Say, you're that kid from Diglett's Cave the other day! How's that Charmander?"

"He's fine. He's a lot better now," I said.

"Good, good! I'm glad to hear that."

The boy named Liam looked confused. "What are you two talking about? What Charmander?"

"It's nothing, Liam. You go back to cleaning up while I lead our challenger downstairs."

We walked behind Brock, who led us down further into a part of the building that was underground. Once we were finally at the bottom, I couldn't help but stare in awe. We were now in a very large room with a high ceiling that held hanging lamps shining down, and in the center of the room was an official Pokémon battlefield like the ones on TV. The battlefield appeared to be made of dirt and gravel with rocks of various sizes, and on both sides of the field was a large, flat stone.

"This your first gym battle?" I jumped when I remembered that Brock was there. He was facing me with a smile on his face. "You look pretty stunned at the sight of it. Truth be told, the other Gym Leaders have fancier and more complicated gyms than this one. C'mere." Brock led me over to the flat rock closest to the stairs. "You wait right here in the challenger's spot while the Gym Leader gets ready, okay?" He then walked off, disappearing through a door on the other side of the room. I assumed he was going to get the Gym Leader.

"So he works here? I wish we could've challenged him to a battle, then," I spoke to Pikachu. "It would've been better training than battling Diglett that don't even know Rock type moves."

I waited there for a few minutes, trying to keep myself calm and collected as I went over a possible battle strategy in my head, only to realize that I didn't really know what my opponent was bringing to the battle. I took a few deep breaths, which got me weird looks from Pikachu, but I couldn't help it. I was nervous. Even if I could always challenge him again, I felt that losing this first gym battle would be a sign that my goal of becoming the Indigo League Champion was pointless.

"Sorry for the wait!" I looked up from the ground and saw Brock standing on the stone on the other side of the battlefield. I could see a pair of Poké Balls attached to a belt he was wearing. "I had to heal my Pokémon after that battle with the last challenger." I must have looked surprised, because Brock arched an eyebrow and asked, "What? You didn't know? My name's on the sign out there and everything!" I blushed in embarrassment, which made him laugh. "Allow me to formally introduce myself, then. I'm Brock, the Pewter Gym leader! I specialize in Rock type Pokémon because I believe in having defense and determination as hard and solid as a rock! My Pokémon can stand strong against most physical attacks. Still wanna battle?"

I nodded before choking out a "Yes!"

Brock's smile faded and he began to wear a serious look. "Alright then. Since I'm sure you're only a beginner, I'll use two Pokémon while you can use whatever you like. If you knock out all of mine, you win the Boulder Badge. If I knock out all of yours, well, you lose. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then show me your best!" Brock exclaimed as he picked a Poké Ball from his belt and tossed it up into the air. "Go, Geodude!" In a flash of light, a Geodude appeared in midair. It landed on top of a rock with a heavy thud, its rocky brown body preventing it from feeling the impact of landing.

I gulped before choosing Nidoran's ball and, with a shaking hand, released him out onto the battlefield between a pair of rocks.

"A Nidoran, huh? Did you choose that first because of it's not weak against Rock types?" Brock asked. "Although…it has _other_ weaknesses! Geodude, use Earthquake!" Brock's Geodude growled before jumping off of the rock it was on, balling up a fist, and punching the ground before it landed. The impact caused the ground to shake and a shockwave to travel along towards Nidoran.

I stared at the shockwave for a few seconds before shouting out, "Jump!" Nidoran nimbly jumped over the shockwave. Thank goodness we practiced by battling against those wild Diglett. "Now, get in close to Geodude to use Double Kick!"

"Keep using Earthquake!" The Geodude continued to punch the ground, sending shockwaves towards Nidoran. At my command, though, Nidoran would jump over the shockwaves or jump onto rocks to protect himself. Eventually, the Poison Pin Pokémon got close enough to jump up into the air, flip around and was about to attack when Brock shouted out, "Use Harden!" Geodude flexed its rocky arms before it stiffened and shone bright white. Nidoran kicked the Geodude twice with his hind legs in quick succession before vaulting off of it onto a rock. Geodude looked like it took a hard blow from the attack, but Harden allowed it to endure something that could've knocked it out in one go. "Now we're on full alert! Use Rock Throw!" Geodude flexed and suddenly, small rocks were fired from its body. The rocks hit Nidoran and knocked him down to the ground. "Keep it up, Geodude!"

"Get up, Nidoran!" Nidoran got up and shook his head. He recovered in time to just be struck with more rocks, but this time, he only skidded back and stayed on his feet. "Once again, use Double Kick!" Despite his injuries, Nidoran darted forward, dodging the rocks that were fired his way, sometimes hiding for cover behind the bigger rocks. Once he was close enough, the Poison type jumped up into the air and aimed to kick the Geodude once again.

"Use Mega Punch!" Brock's Geodude punched forward, its fist coming into contact with Nidoran's foot. The force of its punch sent Nidoran flying up into the air to land on his back, while the Geodude fell forward, twitching in pain. "You can't fight anymore, can you? Alright, return, Geodude!" Brock returned his Pokémon to its ball. "Well, that's one win for you. But it isn't over yet!" Brock picked another ball off of his belt. "It's time for my ace in the hole! Go, Onix!"

I stilled. "Onix?" In a flash of light, an Onix appeared. A large, long rock serpent, it not only towered over Nidoran, it _dwarfed_ him as even in a coiled up position, the Rock type still took up all of the space on Brock's end on the battlefield. A Pokémon of that size would easily be able to knock out Nidoran in his current state. "I've got no choice. Come back, Nidoran!" I sent Nidoran back into his ball and weighed my options.

"Impressive, huh? The sight of an Onix can be pretty intimidating—and this one's not even fully grown yet!" Brock boasted. The Onix gave a moan of delight as it was complimented. "So, have you lost your nerve yet?"

I narrowed my eyes and looked down at Pikachu for a few seconds. I grabbed Charmander's ball and released him from his ball. "Charmander, I'm counting on you!" Charmander flinched at the sight of the Onix and began to cower. "Be strong! I believe in you!"

"Cheering on isn't gonna help you win! Onix, use Bind!" Brock exclaimed as he punched a fist forward. His Onix uncoiled and slithered forward quickly. Charmander couldn't react quickly enough and wound up being wrapped up by the Onix's tail. The Onix put the squeeze on Charmander, gripping him tightly.

"Charmander, use Ember!" Charmander opened his mouth and spat small balls of fire at the Onix's face. The fireballs hit, but they didn't seem to have much effect. "Try again!" Charmander continued to spit a barrage of fireballs along as much of the Onix's body as it could.

"You _do_ realize that Rock types are resilient to Fire type moves, right?" Brock asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I know." I just had to hope that eventually…

The Onix suddenly roared out in pain. Brock jumped, startled at the noise. "Onix?! What's wrong?!" The rock serpent released Charmander, who landed face-first on the ground, and lowered its head as it flinched in pain. That was when I saw that the tip of its tail was scorched black. "No way… That Ember was actually able to burn him?!"

"I was hoping it would," I mumbled to myself. Ember may have been a Fire type move, and weak on at that, but it also had a chance of burning. I doubted that Charmander would be able to take that Onix out with his brute strength alone, so the constant pain and damage caused by a burn would help out.

"I see. You took a big risk, hoping to cause a burn with Ember. But even if you succeeded, your Charmander's the one who's more beat up. I doubt it can do enough damage to knock out my Onix even _with_ the aid of that burn!" Brock exclaimed. "Now, Onix, use Slam!" Brock's Onix roared as it whipped its tail at Charmander, knocking him back with its tail.

"Charmander, are you okay?!" I called out. After a few seconds of twitching, the Fire type gave a roar. "Oh, no…! Not again!" He'd lost it. Charmander jumped back onto his feet and began stomping around in anger. After a few seconds of this, Charmander dashed towards the Onix. "W-wait! Don't just run up to it!"

"Onix, use Bide." The Onix began to shine with a white glow before Charmander began to scratch and bite away at the larger Pokémon. Of course, it did no good.

"Charmander, stop! Please, _stop_!" I shouted. At some point, Pikachu had begun to shout as well.

After a few seconds, Onix whipped Charmander with its tail with enough force to send him flying up into the air. At first, I thought Charmander was knocked out, but he slowly got up onto his feet once again, twitching from pain. The Fire type opened his mouth, and at first, I thought he was going to use Ember. But when I saw blue flames building up inside of his mouth, I realized it wasn't. Charmander roared and fired blue flames at the Onix before falling over, unconscious. The flames made contact with Onix and, unlike his Ember, it seemed to actually harm it.

"What is _that_?" I asked, taking out my Pokédex to scan the move. "Dragon Rage?" As Onix flailed about in pain, I noticed that Charmander wasn't moving anymore. "Good job, Charmander…I guess." After returning Charmander to his ball, I looked down at Pikachu. "You're the only one left, Pikachu. Do you think you can do it?" Pikachu pumped a fist in the air. "Alright. Go get 'em!" I watched Pikachu run out onto the battlefield.

"So now it's a Pikachu, huh?" Brock asked with an arched eyebrow. "If Onix was at 100 percent, I'd say it would never win in a one-on-one fight, but considering how much your Charmander was able to damage him, I'd say the little guy might have a fighting chance if it's just as surprising!" The gym leader smiled. "This is actually exciting! Show me what you're going to do next!"

I gulped. Since Onix was part-Ground type, Electric type attacks wouldn't work on it. We were stuck using Pikachu's Normal type attacks, and if need be, Seismic Toss. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack to hit it where it's burned!" The electric mouse darted towards the Onix.

"Crush it with Rock Slide!" The Onix roared and the large stones on the battlefield suddenly rose up into the air before falling down. Pikachu nimbly avoided being crushed under the rocks, sometimes by mere inches, until he was able to get close enough to tackle against the burnt spot of the Onix's tail, causing it to flinch in more pain than it would've if not burned. "Hit it back with Slam!" Pikachu attempted to dodge, but the Onix's tail moved quickly and slapped the electric mouse back. Pikachu cried out in pain just as it did. "That darn burn…! Onix, coil up and use Bide!" The Onix quickly coiled up, making sure to hide its tail, and began to shine with a bright white glow.

Pikachu scrambled back onto his feet with an angry cry. Considering that Pikachu seemed to have less physical endurance than Charmander and Nidoran, I was worried that I'd have to rely on his speed alone. But if he probably took another Slam, it would probably knock him out. Ramming into Onix with Quick Attack was the best option we had, but since it was now guarding its injured spot and using Bide, that Onix was more likely to knock him out with its next attack.

"Well? If you're gonna just stand there lost and confused, it'd probably be best to give up and try again when you're stronger," I heard Brock say as I ran over Pikachu's skillset in my mind. "There's no shame at all in losing. Win or lose, experience is experience."

"…Pikachu. Use Tail Whip," I spoke in a monotone voice. I didn't know if it would work. But it wasn't like I had many options. The Pikachu turned around and stared at me like I was crazy. "Use Tail Whip," I repeated. He stared at me for a few seconds before he suddenly began to wag his tail in Onix's direction.

The Onix stared in awe at Pikachu's tail for a few seconds before uncoiling. "Onix, don't!" The rock snake then slithered towards Pikachu slowly to get a better look at his wagging tail. "Snap out of it! Don't look at that tail!" Pikachu looked over his shoulder at the larger Pokémon and looked back at me to smirk. It had lowered its defenses. I noticed that Onix began to wag its own tail happily, exposing its burn.

"Now use Quick Attack to get in close to that tail!" I exclaimed. In an instant, Pikachu dropped down on all fours and got behind the Onix like a yellow blur. "Seismic Toss!" I don't know why I told Pikachu to use that move. Overconfidence? Desperation? Regardless of _why_ I did it, the point is that after Pikachu grabbed hold of the very end of Onix's tail and began to pull just as Brock was commanding it to use Bind, he gave a loud cry as he began to channel electricity and… _actually began to spin the Onix around by the tip of its tail._ I could only stare in awe as Pikachu began to spin around, dragging Onix along with him. Eventually, the larger Pokémon was _lifted_ off of the ground, which made my jaw drop even lower in surprise. It only ended when, with a cry of pain, Pikachu released the Onix and sent it flying off of the battlefield, where it landed in a pile. Then Pikachu fell over, crying out in pain, and my heart sank. I wound up running up to him, checking to see if everything was okay, then scooping the mouse up into my arms before running out of the gym.

 **X-X-X**

The only thought on my mind had been to get Pikachu help. I wound up running to the Pokémon Center, asking the nurse to please help my Pokémon. She took him away, and I wound up standing to the side for several minutes before my name had been called. "Red Ketchum! Red Ketchum, your Pokémon have been healed!"

I approached the counter nervously. "I'm Red Ketchum. How are my Pokémon? Is my Pikachu okay?"

"Your Pokémon have been healed and your Pikachu is fine." The nurse said as she handed me back Nidoran and Charmander's Poké Balls. "It seemed as if it dislocated a shoulder bone…just how did that happen?" The nurse asked, sounding suspicious. "Between this and that Charmander you brought in the other day, I'm starting to wonder if you're maltreating your Pokémon, young man."

My eyes widened. "I-I—!"

"It's all my fault, miss," a familiar voice spoke behind me. I turned around to see Brock standing behind me. "This boy and I were having a battle at the Pewter Gym and, uh…my Onix may have put too much of a squeeze on his Pikachu."

"Really! That sort of thing is unbecoming of gym leader!"

"It was an accident, I swear! I'll make sure my Onix learns to ease up," Brock said with a sheepish smile.

"It better. I'd hate to report you to the Pokémon League after all your hard work as a Gym Leader." The nurse looked at me. "I'll be back with your Pikachu in a minute."

After she walked off, Brock and I faced each other. "Well, there's a disaster averted. I'd hate for you to get your trainer license taken away from you over an accident."

"But…it _wasn't_ an accident. Pikachu hurt himself because I thought he could handle the weight of an Onix…"

"Yeah, that's true. But I'm sure it could've happened to anyone." Not anyone is stupid enough to do what I did, I'm sure. "But regardless of how it ended, I was impressed! It's been a while since a trainer's beaten me without using Pokémon whose type is effective against Rock types. You and your Pokémon are _really_ something." Brock held out his hand. In his palm was the Boulder Badge. "Here, take this Boulder Badge as proof of your victory over me."

I stared at the badge in surprise before looking up at the older boy. "But I…I ran out. I technically forfeited, didn't?"

"If you recall, I said I'd use two Pokémon alone while you were free to use all at your disposal. My Geodude and Onix were unable to battle, and so were your Pikachu and Charmander, but your Nidoran was still able to battle, right?" I blinked as the realization came to me. "So you've earned it. Go on, take it." Warily, I took the badge from Brock and clenched it in my fist. "You're pretty gifted as a Pokémon trainer. I think you could go far. You should go challenge the gym in Cerulean City—that's to the west of Mt. Moon outside of Pewter City." The Gym Leader began to walk away from me. "Well, later."

The moment Brock left the center, I looked down at the badge in my hand and couldn't help glaring. He said I deserved it, but I didn't feel like it. Being a talented trainer meant nothing if my Pokémon were hurt. I wouldn't be surprised if Pikachu hated me again for this.

"Here you go!" The nurse spoke as she returned with Pikachu in her arms. "Now even though its injury has been successfully healed, I suggest you keep it from doing any extraneous activities such as Pokémon battles for a day or two. You wouldn't want him to get injured or disabled, would you?"

"No, ma'am. Thank you." I carefully took Pikachu from her arms and cradled him tightly as I stepped away from the front counter. Pikachu opened his eyes and looked up at me with a small frown on his face. "I'm sorry, Pikachu. If I knew better, I wouldn't have made you try that move and…you wouldn't have gotten hurt." Pikachu stared up at me blankly for a few seconds before he patted me on the hand. I suppose that was his way of comforting me—or at least I could fool myself into thinking that. "Oh, but your injury wasn't in vain. Brock gave us the Boulder Badge. Look." I opened my hand to show it to Pikachu. The sight made him smile, and that in turn made _me_ smile. "Next is the Cerulean City Gym. I've heard its specialty is Water types. Until we get there, I won't let you battle. That way, you can actually battle the way a Pikachu is supposed to." Pikachu gave a happy-sounding cry as he gave me a determined look.

It was then that I couldn't resist hugging Pikachu against my chest. From our track record of close contact, I expected to be bitten, shocked or just hear cries of protest. Instead, the mouse Pokémon cuddled up against me and fell asleep in my arms. Now that I looked back on it, battling Brock had given me a rush unlike any I had felt so far on my journey. If all gym leaders battled so intensely, I was looking forward to the gym battles to come. With my heart feeling much lighter now, I left the Pewter City Gym with high hopes for the future.

…At least until I remembered that Blue was waiting for me on Route 3. Then I heaved a big sigh of annoyance.

 **X-X-X**

 **Notes!**

 **Pikachu can learn Seismic Toss via TM in Gen 1. Geodude can learn Mega Punch via TM. Charmander can only learn Dragon Rage via TM in Gen 1. Onix can learn Bide and Rock Slide via TM.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Unprepared for Trouble

**A big thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed so far. Your attention to this makes me happy.  
**

 _Disclaimer : Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series, just this fic._

 **X-X-X**

 _Another test taken, another day survived. I remember blacking out after spitting out some black, foul-smelling gunk and feeling sick afterwards. When I came to, I was back inside of my box. Looking up, I saw another box containing a Weedle looking all curled up and stiff. I assumed it had died. Below, I saw that the Mankey that had been brought in earlier, once so lively that it needed to be pricked by the humans in black to calm down, was not there. It probably died during the tests. It happened a lot: the humans would bring in a new Pokémon, and most of them would die. Though in a twisted way, the ones who died were the lucky ones._

 _At the very least, in the box next to me was the cream-colored Pokémon that one of the humans had referred to as "Meowth". Although it was bruised and injured, just like me, it had managed to survive for this long—or maybe longer. For some reason, seeing it survived every day made me feel better. A familiar face, even if I didn't know it for long, made me grateful._

" _What're_ _ **you**_ _starin' at, twerp?" The Meowth suddenly asked. I gasped, not even realizing that I had been staring. "You've been starin' at me for a while now." He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. Today, he had no poor-looking injuries, though his fur was still stained with blood in various places._

" _S-sorry… I just… I was wondering if you were hurt," I spoke timidly. I don't remember when I had last talked to someone. Most of my times speaking these days had been when I was crying out in pain._

 _The Meowth snorted and looked off to the side. "That's a dumb question, ain't it?" It kind of was, considering the situation. We both fell silent for a few seconds before the Meowth spoke up again, "So what're_ _ **you**_ _supposed to be, twerp?"_

" _Huh?"_

" _Like…I'm a Meowth. That over there's a Vulpix. That used to be an Oddish. So what're you?"_

"… _A Pikachu, I guess. I'm not a…Twerp, whatever that is."_

" _Pikachu. You ever had a human? To take care of ya?" I weakly shook my head. The only humans I'd met personally were the ones here, and they didn't really seem to care about taking care of any of us. "Neither have I… So I was so happy when these humans took me in."_

 _I stared at him in shock. "_ _ **These**_ _humans? B-but…they're so mean to us…! I don't even think they care if any of us die!"_

" _That's life for ya. Take it from me: the weak don't deserve_ _ **nothin'**_ _. It's the strong who deserve to survive. The strong who're admired by humans, taken in by 'em, and pampered for the rest of their days. All we gotta do is please 'em, and then we'll be able to live the sweet life."_

" _I…I don't know if I'd want to please people like that…"_

" _Of course ya do. Besides, if you're gonna survive anyways, you have to be strong. You wanna die or you wanna live?"_

 _A beastly scream followed that. I was silent, but not because of the noise. I was thinking and wondering if it was better to die, or if that Meowth was right about things eventually getting better if we continued to please them. A naïve part of me wanted to believe the last one._

" _Just think of it like being in the wild. You're either the Pidgey or the Magikarp. Whatcha gonna be?"_

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 4: Unprepared for Trouble~_

"There you are, Red!" A loud voice woke me up from my short nap. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was that Blue boy that Red insisted was nice. "Took you long enough to get here! Now show me that Boulder Badge!" Wordlessly, Red took out a shiny red case from his bag and handed it to Blue while he held me in the crook of his arm. Blue opened the case and smirked before handing it back to him. "Well then! I guess you're worthy of being my rival. Now, let's have a battle!"

"No," Red spoke flatly.

The other boy blinked. "No?"

"No," Red repeated.

Blue frowned. "Why not?!"

"Because Pikachu got seriously injured, I was told that if I don't want him getting disabled, I should make sure he doesn't battle for a while." A part of me was annoyed that he thought I couldn't handle a little pain…or that great, excruciating pain I went through from lugging around that Onix. On the other hand, getting a rest sounded nice

The blue-clad boy arched an eyebrow. "Oh. Well…okay. I'll give you until Cerulean City. We can battle while we're there—that is _if_ you don't drag your feet like a Slowpoke!" Blue put his hands on his hips. "I expect you to give me a good challenge next time we meet, Red! Smell ya later!" He gave a salute before walking off.

"What is with his habit of smelling things?" I mumbled to myself as I weakly glared at Blue's back.

"I was so sure he'd force me to fight him…" Red mumbled. "I guess it'd make him feel better to beat me while you're all at your best."

"What makes you think we're gonna be beaten?"

The red-eyed boy looked down at me. "Not that he's gonna beat us. Not without a fight, anyway." He kept talking as he resumed walking down the road, "Maybe I can catch a new Pokémon. On TV, it's said that Clefairy live inside of Mt. Moon. Apparently, they're from outer space—from a different world. Blue and I have always wondered if there were all sorts of different Pokémon on other planets, or even the same kinds we have here. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what a space Pikachu looks like?"

"Maybe…if I knew what outer space _was_."

We spent the rest of the journey along the route in silence. Occasionally, Red would be challenged by a trainer and, rather than turn them away like he did Blue, he would simply have Charmander and Nidoran battle while I watched from the comfort of his arms. Of course, I wound up falling asleep out of boredom. The trainers weren't as skilled as that Brock guy and their Pokémon didn't seem half as strong as his Geodude or his Onix. I soon got bored of watching Charmander and Nidoran defeat tiny birds and bugs and fell asleep.

At least until Red spoke up. "Wh-what's happening to Nidoran?!"

I opened my eyes to a bright and shining light, at the center of which was a white Nidoran-shaped figure. The figure began to grow in size, its spines and horns getting longer. Eventually, the light faded and in Nidoran's place…was a _bigger_ Nidoran, technically. Bigger horns, bigger spines, and a bigger horn with a more intimidating face. The big Nidoran cried out as it stamped its foot.

"A Nidorino! So cool!" In front of us was a little boy wearing a hat and shorts. "I wish _my_ Nidoran did that! You're lucky!"

Nidorino, as the boy called him, suddenly got watery eyes. "My horn…! It's… _beautiful_ …!" He sniffled in a way that didn't suit such a frightening face and his new, deeper voice.

"Uh…wow. You look…" I trailed off as I took in its new size with slight disdain. Nidoran was already _slightly_ bigger than me because of those ears, but _now_ he had to be _twice_ my size! Suddenly, I remembered my days as a Pichu, when I was picked on by my siblings for being the runt of the family. "You look stupid. You're just a bigger pincushion now," I spoke flatly.

Nidorino frowned. "Well, I don't care what you think. I love my new horn!"

At that moment, Red stopped checking his Pokédex and crouched down to pet Nidorino. "Good job! You're the first on the team to evolve!" I scoffed. Technically, _I_ was the one who evolved first, but I guess it didn't count if Red wasn't there. Not that I was jealous that the pincushion became an even _bigger_ pincushion.

"This is all because of you! I wouldn't have gotten this far on my own…!" Nidorino exclaimed before attempting to cuddle up to Red, only to stab him in the side with his horn. "Whoops! Sorry!"

I felt Red still as he gave a grunt of pain. "Uh, Red? You okay there?" He began to tilt over and his hold on me loosened. "Red?" He started to fall to the ground. "RED!" He collapsed and began to shake.

"Oh, my gosh! I think he's poisoned!" The little boy in front of us cried before running off.

"Hey, wait! Come back here, you little…! ARRGH!" I pulled myself out of Red's arms and glared at Nidorino. "This is all _your_ fault! You and that stupid horn!"

"WAAAAAHHHH! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt him!" Nidorino cried.

Just then, a large human came along with the little boy behind him. "Oh, dear! How long ago did he get poisoned?!" He asked the boy.

"Um, like a few seconds ago! I-is he going to die?!" The boy cried with tears and snot running down his face.

"I don't have any antidotes on me. There's a Pokémon Center nearby the mountain. They'll be able to extract the poison if we get 'em there." I warily watched the large human pick up Red. "Don't worry, kiddo! I'm a good enough hiker that I know the shortcuts on this route!" Nidorino and I followed behind them as they ran down the road.

 **X-X-X**

"Once again, this is all _your_ fault," I hissed at Nidorino's ball as I sat on the counter. Minutes ago, we had arrived at a Pokémon Center outside of a cave. The nurses there had healed us at the same time they healed Red, but we wound up finishing earlier than him. I guess it was harder to heal a human. Finally, Red came into view alongside of a nurse. "Red! You're alive!" I exclaimed.

"Now, I suggest that at least for the rest of the day, you rest before continuing on," the nurse told him. "Just so you don't collapse from wooziness."

"But I need to get to Cerulean City in a hurry," Red spoke softly. Because of Blue, I guess.

"Is whatever's in Cerulean City so important as to risk your health?"

"…No."

The nurse nodded and smiled. "Good! Then you can stay here. This center's small, but lucky for you, not many people stay here until the night, so there are still some free rooms. You can sleep in one until tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, ma'am," Red spoke softly before picking up his balls and then picking me up. The small frown on his otherwise blank face made it easy to tell that he was upset about this. He looked down at me as the nurse left to get him a key for his room. "Well…according to my map, there's two routes and Mt. Moon between Pewter and Cerulean, so it'd probably get dark before we got there anyway. And at least you'll get to rest a bit longer, too. Maybe you'll even be able to battle tomorrow." I smiled and nodded. That definitely sounded more exciting than sleeping all day.

 **X-X-X**

The next morning, after a small breakfast of berries for us Pokémon and a store-bought sandwich for Red, we were out of the Pokémon Center and went uphill, into the mouth of a cave. Unlike Diglett's cave, it wasn't a very long tunnel. Instead, it was very wide with a lot of paths.

Red gulped and looked around as the sound of the wind blowing through the cave reached us. He approached the signs closest to the cave entrance and began to read. "Follow the signs to avoid getting lost. This way to Cerulean. Warning: wild Zubat and Paras are common in these caves and cause states of confusion, paralysis or sleep on those who encounter them. Have proper healing items prepared. Also, wild Zubat tend to…drink the _blood_ …of those they attack, so be alert."

"I'm sorry, _what_?! Drink _blood_?! That doesn't sound good!" I cried out. Being tackled, or squeezed, or even burned was one thing, but I wouldn't stand something drinking me up!

"I-it's okay! If we're lucky, we won't even run into them."

Just then, a loud shriek echoed through the cave and we both jumped. Seconds later, small, blue winged Pokémon flew in our direction in a _swarm_. They looked absolutely frightening with their open mouths showing their sharp fangs and their eyeless faces. And then they all surrounded us, squeaking in high-pitched voices. I wound up panicking and began zapping everything around us with electricity. After enough of them fell to the ground from the shocks, the blue things flew back the way they came.

I took a deep, shaky breath at the same time as Red. I narrowed my eyes and glared up at the red-eyed boy. "We won't even run into them, huh?" I asked flatly.

"Let's hope that _Paras_ don't move around in groups that big…" Red muttered as we began to follow the signs.

 **X-X-X**

We spent minutes wandering around the mountain, going up and down through tunnels, encountering more of those annoying Zubat that never seemed to appear alone, Geodude that didn't look so different from ordinary rocks in the darkness of the cave, and Sandshrew who kept popping up from the ground at the last second and tripping either me or Red. Sometimes we found Paras, which Red was interesting in catching for something called "type coverage", whatever _that_ was…but the ones we found always put those of us who went to fight it to sleep with the powder from its mushrooms before running away. Once or twice, Red said he saw something called a Clefairy, but I only got glimpses of pink disappearing over rocky walls and around corners.

The only bright spot at that moment had been when, as a result of tripping over a sleeping Geodude, Red stumbled across a dark stone that occasionally had a dull light glowing inside. According to him, it was a Moon Stone. Nidorino could use it to evolve at some point. Great, just make him _bigger_ …

"Look, Pikachu! We're almost to the exit!" Red said, pointing at the sign in front of us. "Just a few more feet and we'll be out of here!" He sounded _and_ looked relieved at that thought.

"Oh! Great! I really hate this place! We don't have to come back here, do we?" I asked as I nibbled a tiny mushroom that had been dropped by the last Paras we found. "I can't believe I ever thought Pidgey and Spearow were the worst Pokémon in the wild. _They_ don't drain your blood with every bite!" I felt so content about leaving this stupid mountain behind us.

As Red and I turned the corner and we saw them. Humans dressed in white, standing before another human, who was clutching something tightly against his chest. We weren't close enough to hear what they were saying at first, but as we got closer, they became louder.

"You're mad! Y-you're both absolutely mad! As if I believe _anything_ you tell me!" The man wearing glasses exclaimed, stepping away from the other humans. "And even if I _did_ , I wouldn't just hand over these fossils to you! _I'm_ the one who spent days up here looking for them, so _I_ deserve to keep them!"

"For what? You sad you're not going to revive them or sell them for money, so what was the point of even digging them up if they're going to sit in your house and get all dusty? Well, _dustier_ ," said the white-clad man with bright purple hair.

"So they've found fossils here, huh?" Red murmured more to himself than to me. "Best to leave them to their business."

So we went behind the white-clad humans' backs. They and the man wearing glasses were too busy shouting at each other to notice us. We walked around them, staying far away from them as a female voice spoke in irritation, "Give it a rest, James! This guy's not gonna give those fossils up unless we pry them from his cold, dead hands!" Said the white-clad woman with red hair that was styled up and back in a way that reminded me of the one Pidgeot I'd ever seen in my life. "So let's make that possible."

That was the moment when my happy mood sank. We heard a scream, and both Red and I spun around to see the glasses-wearing human suddenly wrapped up by something, big, long and purple. It reminded of Ekans, which I'd rarely see slithering through the grass in the forest, but _this_ thing was wider just below the head and had black, yellow and red markings on that wide part that resembled a scary face.

"Not so fast, Arbok! Make his suffering _painfully slow_ for wasting our time!" The giant Ekans, which the Pidgeot-haired Woman called Arbok, hissed and tightened its grip on the human until I heard the loud and painful sound of bones crunching. The human man's screams of pain barely lasted for a second before he coughed up blood and his head fell limply. "That wasn't slow at all!"

"It sure seemed _painful_ , though."

Beside me, Red gasped in horror. I didn't feel like doing the same until the white-clad humans, having heard him, turned around in surprise to look in our direction. Although their clothes were white, they still had that familiar red mark that I'd come to despise. Not only did they not care about the Pokémon they harmed, but they didn't even care about harming their own kind! They really were the worst!

"Jesse! It's some kid!" The purple-haired man exclaimed.

"I _know_ , James," The Pidgeot Woman named Jessie growled.

"What do we do?"

"Isn't it _obvious_?!"

It was obvious to Red and me what she meant to do. Our first reaction had been to turn and run the way we had been going—towards the exit and hopefully, out to safety. But the Arbok quickly slithered into our path, blocking the exit and hissing at us. Its eyes glowed, and for some reason, I felt like my muscles had stiffened and become unresponsive.

"Are we really gonna do this? I'm fine with killing some nerd, but this is a little kid!" said James. Why did it matter if Red was a kid? Being young or old made no difference—killing was killing and death was death.

"Look, James! We're in Team Rocket now! We're going to have to do dirty jobs like _this_ sometimes if we wanna move up in the ranks and make more _money_ ," said Jessie. Is that why they hurt and killed so many Pokémon for? More money? What could cost so much as to take others' lives?! "Besides, if we leave him alive, he'll squeal to the cops and Team Rocket'll have more heat on them. And that'll reflect poorly on us to the boss! Do you want that?"

"No…"

"Do you want to become an executive?"

"Yes!"

"Then quit dawdling and help!"

Frightened by Jessie's shouting, James took out a Poké Ball and released something unfamiliar and strange-looking. It was big and purple with what seemed to be two heads: one large with a white marking below its mouth and one small and plain-looking, but both wearing dimwitted expressions and puffing out gas from holes that covered parts of their body. "Weezing! Poison them with Smog!"

The Weezing floated towards us and began to release black smoke from its mouth and every other hole in its body. The smoke engulfed us, the scent of which made me sick, thinking of the times in the past when I'd done the same at tests. Disgusted by both my memory and concerned how Red, a mere human, couldn't take this, I fought off the stiffening feeling, charged up and released a bolt of electricity in the direction that I remembered the Weezing was. It hit and the smog soon dispersed, the poison-spewing _thing_ having been paralyzed by my attack.

I looked at Red, who was now on his knees gasping for breath. "Red! Snap out of it! If we wanna survive, we have to _fight_!" I didn't know if he understood me, but once he recovered, Red got to his feet and took Charmander and Nidorino's balls in his hand. Without a word, he released them both. Charmander's reaction to the sight of them had been one of fright, as he began to scratch himself from worry. I zapped him with a bit of electricity to make him stop. "You wanna stay with Red? Now's the time to prove yourself!"

"Huh? Isn't it unfair to fight three-on-two?" Nidorino asked as he faced the Arbok.

"These are _bad_ people, stupid! It's not about _fairness_!" I snapped. "It's about—"

"SURVIVAL!" Charmander cried as he immediately went into another frenzy and charged at the Weezing. He jumped up and scratched at it from below.

"So you won't surrender, huh? Well then, prepare to fight! Arbok, use Glare on that Nidorino, then Wrap it!"

"Weezing, Smoke Screen!"

I wasn't looking at the Arbok, so I didn't see its Glare. Whatever happened, Nidorino was unable to move as the snake Pokémon slithered forward and wrapped itself around him before squeezing tightly. At the same time, Charmander and the Weezing were engulfed in more smoke.

"Now use Bite, Arbok!"

"A-Aim Poison Pin into its mouth!" Red exclaimed with a sense of urgency in his voice. He was afraid, and it reflected in his expression. Honestly, he had every right to be after seeing someone be killed.

Being in a position that had him facing the Arbok's approaching open mouth, Nidorino fired several small pins into its mouth, hitting its face in the process. Though it didn't seem to do much damage, it was enough pain to make the Arbok slacken its hold on him.

"Pikachu, go help Charmader!" Red exclaimed. He couldn't divide his attention between two different directions at once, so it was up to me to save my friend.

I darted into the smoke cloud and found Charmander still jumping up and scratching away at the Weezing's underside with little effect. I unleashed a jolt of electricity on them both to stop the Weezing from breathing out smoke and snap Charmander out of his fear-induced frenzy.

"That's not doing anything! Trying breathing fire at it! Uh, use Ember!" I exclaimed, trying my best to imitate Red by pointing up at the purple thing floating above us. Charmander took a deep breath and began spitting embers up at the Weezing, which seemed to be more effective. "Yeah! That's it! I unleashed a jolt of electricity on it as well, which added to the damage it was taking. The Weezing was now starting to look singed and quite possibly burned along with paralyzed.

"Weezing, use Sludge!" At James's command, the Weezing spat out some foul-smelling sludge at us. It hit and I began to feel woozy. I remembered doing something like that at some point, and it led to someone fainting from poisoning. I looked at Charmander and saw that he was reeling from being poisoned, too. Suddenly upset, I found it in me to tap into that ability of mine and attack—although I didn't know what I could _do_. Red seemed to know with the help of that Pokédex of his, but he never checked me with it today.

I readied myself so I could brace the pain that would surge through my body. As usual, it didn't help. I felt compelled to take a deep breath as I began to feel cold on the inside. With a scream, I released a freezing beam from my mouth that, when it hit the Weezing, covered it in ice and caused it to drop from the air, the fall not even making the ice crack a bit.

"AH! Weezing!" James actually sounded a bit concerned as he returned his Weezing to its ball. "Wh-what kind of Pikachu knows an attack like _that_?!"

"I don't know. But when we get rid of that kid, we'll take it and the rest of his Pokémon!" Jessie proclaimed. And then there came a loud thud. Recovering from my exhaustion, I looked over to where Nidorino had been fighting. The Arbok was lying unconscious at his feet, covered in scratches and bruises. "WHAT?! How could I lose?!"

"That's what happens when you evolve your Pokémon with stolen Rare candies, I guess," James said sadly.

"We're not through yet!" The red-haired woman snarled. "There's still _that_ one!"

"But that thing never listens to you _or_ me!"

As the two Rockets argued, that was when Red saw a chance for escape. "Now! Let's go!" Red exclaimed, immediately starting to run away. Charmander and Nidorino were quick to follow him, but I hesitated for a few seconds. I wanted to stay and beat them with the strength they forced me to gain in order to survive, and maybe even use it to kill them if I felt angry enough.

In a flash of light, a Meowth appeared in front of the two Rockets. It looked like an ordinary Meowth to me, standing on its two hind feet as it stared at me coolly. But then it spoke. "Is _this_ thing really such a problem that ya had to call me out?" Its voice. I recognized its voice, and that made my heart drop.

 **X-X-X**

 _After managing to fall asleep after another painful day of fighting and surviving, something wonderful happened. I wasn't accepted into loving embrace of the humans who were doing this to me—to all of us and allowed to stop fighting. A loud, blaring alarm woke me up to find that my box was open and there were no humans in sight. Others' boxes were open as well. It took all those who were able to wake up to the noise a few seconds to realize what this meant:_ _ **freedom**_ _. Freedom from this terrible place and awful humans. Suddenly, we were all jumping out of our boxes and dashing down the hall—away from the direction that we related with pain and death and hopefully towards freedom. Some helped each other to walk while others were in it for themselves, pushing others around._

 _Before jumping down into the flood of Pokémon, I looked at the Meowth who'd been my neighbor for a long time now. We'd become close, albeit a forced closeness. He'd told me of life in a human city and how awful it was compared to now, which made me think cities were terrifying places. I told him about my forest and my family and he sounded mildly envious as he said it "must've been nice to be weak and rely on others." Once again, our friendship was forced, but I considered him a friend and a comfort while trapped her nonetheless._

 _He was awake and breathing, so he wasn't dead like a few others were, but he wasn't moving from his box. "Hey! We're free now! C'mon, let's go!" I exclaimed over the sound of panicking and excited cries. Although I didn't know whether or not Meowth ate Pikachu and Pichu, I was more than willing to bring my new friend home with me so we could live together happily. I'd teach him that he didn't need humans to be happy in the forest._

 _However, he only snorted. "Not me."_

" _Wh-what?! Why?!"_

" _Because I want to be strong, and I know they can make me strong. And when I'm strong, my life will get better."_

" _No, it won't! They'll just make you get hurt more and more until you hurt yourself!" I shouted. "Come with me!_ _ **I**_ _can make your life better!"_

 _The Meowth hissed and glared at me in a way that frightened me. "If you wanna leave, twerp,_ _ **get lost**_ _! It just proves you don't have what it takes to be strong!_ _ **But I do**_ _."_

 _I felt torn between an obligation to the friend who made me feel like not dying from sorrow and the desire to escape and live like a Pikachu should. I wound up listening to my survival instincts and fled, leaving him behind. I went through holes in the wall that led outside of the place they held us, and into the dark of night. I ran until I couldn't run anymore, and so stopped in the middle of a patch of grass where I cried myself to sleep over what I had gained and lost that night._

 **X-X-X**

"You…! It's _you_ …!" I spoke with wide eyes.

The Meowth's eyes widened for a split second before smirking. "Well, if it ain't Pikachu! I thought you hated humans, but here you are with a _trainer_! Guess you realized your mistake and wanted to be strong, huh?"

My shock was replaced with anger. "Don't you _dare_ try and compare Red to those… _awful humans_! He's a better person than _any_ of them!"

"Tch! Being nicer don't make him better! Now _my_ humans, Team Rocket, were _so_ pleased with my progress that I was given to _these_ two lunkheads!" Meowth exclaimed, pointing at Jessie and James. "But the boss said if they said I perform exceptionally well, he'll decide to take me instead! _You_ could've had the same benefit if ya didn't run off because you were afraid of a little hard work."

I had begun to generate electricity from the anger I was feeling. The commands Red had been giving sounded so far away. " _Hard work_ isn't supposed to kill you and make you feel miserable, you…JERK!" I exclaimed before dashing forward to tackle him, but Meowth jumped up into the air to avoid my attack. The cat Pokémon shouted in midair as that shiny coin charm on his head glowed. With a swipe of his paws, he sent a shower of coins down on me that hit hard. When Meowth came down, he landed face first and bit down hard on my body. "Get OFF!" I shouted before releasing electricity to shock him off of me.

Meowth stumbled back, laughing. "Is that the best you got?!" He pounced forward and slashed me across the back, finishing up by digging his claws deep into my body. I screamed out in pain. "I didn't think you were such a _wimp_!"

"I'll show you a _wimp_!" I looked at Meowth as pain surged through my body once again. "Eat _this_!" I opened my mouth and fired a freezing beam at the cat Pokémon, but it slipped its claws out of me to quickly dodge the attack. The beam wound up hitting the wall next to Red and froze up a good chunk of it.

"That's pretty impressive! Now see what _I_ can do!"

"How about I _DON'T_?!" I fired another bolt of electricity at the Meowth, but he easily dodged it by jumping to the side. I suddenly started to feel woozy and my vision began to blur. Between the poisoning and my injuries, I couldn't keep myself up. I wound up collapsing with a cry of pain.

"Y'know what? You're not strong enough for Team Rocket!" I heard Meowth speak before he stepped in front of me. He held out his paw and his claws suddenly began to glow and extend to a very long length. "Try not to move. If I hit ya in just the right way, I can end your miserable existence."

"Hey! What're you doing, you dumb Meowth?! Don't kill that Pikachu when it _could_ be valuable!" Jessie snapped.

"This is just like when we were looking for Clefairy…" James spoke sadly.

I tried to get up, but I didn't have the energy for it. I could only lie there and wait for the end to come…

"Nidorino! Horn Attack!" At that point, I heard Red shout in distress and what sounded like Nidorino charging in my direction. I watched as with ease, Meowth lazily sidestepped the oncoming Horn Attack from behind, spun on his heel to get close to Nidorino's side, and stabbed his claws clear through his body. Nidorino cried and flailed in pain for less than a minute before Meowth tore his claws downward. Then Nidorino just…stopped and collapsed as he began to bleed out, his blood gradually pooling. Nidorino coughed up blood as his eyes watered and then glazed over in a lifeless way that I'd seen too many times before.

"Tch! Weakling. A simple Nidorino can't stand up to _me_ ," Meowth spoke as he flicked the blood off of his claws.

"Well, Nidorino isn't an interesting Pokémon to begin with. All we need are that Pikachu and Charmander," said James.

I watched Charmander started to cry and panic, clinging to Red's leg, while Red himself…looking stunned into silence. It took a while, but his eyes began to water as he held a hand to his head and struggled to breathe, as if Nidorino's death had knocked the air out of him. Eventually, tears began to stream down his face and he broke down. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

I started to feel a pain in my head and heard voices—voices that sounded like _Red_. They all spoke at the same time, their sentences barely heard over each other, but I could make out _'Nidorino'_ occasionally. Those voices sounded angry, sad, pained, and _loud_ in a way that was actually causing me pain. Suddenly, I felt as if the voices were blaming me for what had happened…and they were right. _I_ stayed behind to fight when we should've ran away. _I'm_ the one who had to be saved. _I'm_ the reason why Nidorino is dead and Red's crying his heart out. This was _my_ fault…all my fault…

That strong feeling of guilt was the last thing I remembered before blacking out.

 **X-X-X**

 **Notes!**

 **The move Pikachu used was Ice Beam, whose Japanese name translates to "Freezing Beam". The move Meowth used was Guillotine, and although he doesn't have the pincers described in the move's description, it should be noted that members of the Axew and Pawniard line who don't have pincers can learn these moves by leveling up. Neither can learn these moves legally.**


	5. Chapter 5 - Trying to Ease the Pain

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. She only owns this fic._

 _Chapter Summary: After losing Nidorino to Team Rocket, Red somehow manages to find his way to Cerulean City. He wants to go on with his journey despite the loss, but are he and his remaining Pokémon in any shape to continue forward?_

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 5: Trying to Ease the Pain~_

I wasn't entirely sure how I'd gotten here. Just like how there was a Pokémon Center to the west of Mt. Moon, there was a Pokémon Center to the east of it. But I couldn't remember leaving Mt. Moon and walking in there. I remember getting blood all over my shoes and clothing as I used potions and bandages in vain trying help… _trying to help_ …! Oh, god, just trying to think about it makes me… _feel_. It makes my stomach churn with disgust, my heart ache with sadness, and my head pound as I tried to control the angry thoughts that filled my mind. Nidorino…the first Pokémon I caught. My first Pokémon that evolved. The Pokémon I was only able to win the Boulder Badge because of. And he was dead. I blamed myself just as much as I had blamed Team Rocket. If I was a better trainer, or maybe if I had decided to go to Vermillion City instead of Cerulean, Nidorino would still be alive, and he'd have evolved into a Nidoking, and—

"Son!" The sound of a stern, unfamiliar voice made me snap out of my thoughts.

I looked up and saw a man standing in front of me dressed in a police uniform. Standing next to him was the nurse who had attended to me. I remember giving her all my Pokémon, still hopelessly thinking that something could be done to help Nidorino. Childish, I know, but I _was_ a child, and _death_ was something I never saw with my own eyes. I didn't feel afraid or even sad. I just felt empty.

"Are you the one who made a report about Team Rocket, son?" The police officer spoke, now sounding kinder as he crouched to look me in the eye. I could only nod wordlessly. "I see. Do you have it in you to tell me the whole story, or would you feel more comfortable just telling me who was responsible?" I didn't want to talk about how Nidorino died. Instead, I described the two Rocket members responsible. Their names were Jessie and James—a woman and a man. They had an Arbok, a Weezing, and a Meowth. They killed a man over some fossils they had, and they attacked me because they didn't want me to tell anyone what I knew. Because of _me_ …Nidorino…! "I see… Truth be told, there have been more than two Team Rocket members spotted in the area as of late. The Pewter City police recently arrested Rocket members that were stealing fossils from the local museum, and even Cerulean City has been hit by those bas— I mean, crooks. But don't worry, son. We'll find the ones responsible for this and bring them to justice." His words didn't comfort me. "Where do you live? I'll take you home."

I shook my head. "I live in Pallet Town, but…I don't want to go home. I'm on my journey right now."

"P-Pallet Town?! That's quite far for a kid your age to go, even if you're on a journey!" That was true. Even though most kids got their trainer licenses and Pokémon at the age of 10, a lot of kids my age never really wandered far from home—at least those from Pallet never did. Even those who said they'd challenge the Pokémon League traveled for less than a month before returning home, saying they'd do it after finishing school or when they were older and more prepared, but never doing so. As much as Nidorino's death pained me and as awful as it would sound out loud, I didn't want to go back to being that outcast down the road who was practically a pariah. I wanted to be a Pokémon trainer, try to become the champion of the Pokémon League, and feel just like everyone else. "I really think you ought to go home, son. If you're seen by those two again, you might wind up being attacked again!"

"But…nowhere is safe. You said that they attacked Pewter and Cerulean...so nothing's stopping them from going to Pallet Town at some point and causing trouble." Or maybe not. Pallet was so far off in the countryside that I'd never even heard of Team Rocket until now, but it seemed like they'd been active for quite a while. But if they did, I couldn't risk be being blamed for attracting people like that to Pallet, or worse, causing my mother or Professor Oak to be attacked by them because of me.

We argued about it for minutes until the police officer finally gave up trying to help me and left the room, muttering things about stupid young trainers. But I honestly didn't care, because I didn't want my journey to stop. But then the nurse stepped in and reminded me of what happened as she spoke. "On the subject of your Nidorino, how would you like to send it off?"

I blinked and stared at her. "Send it off?"

"Would you to prefer to handle a funeral arrangement yourself, or maybe send it off to be buried in a particular place? In Lavender Town to the east, there's a place called the Pokémon Tower that is a sort of Pokémon cemetery. If you want, I can send it there and the staff there will handle its burial for a fee."

A grave? He deserved that much from me after what happened. But there was a problem. "I don't have much money." I spent most of it on medicine and food, leaving just enough to ensure a little snack when I got to Cerulean. Even if I _did_ pay with all my money, I felt like it wouldn't even pay for half of the fees.

The nurse suddenly gave me a look of pity. "Ah, yes. Traveling trainers are always spending lots on supplies, huh? Well…I'd be happy to pay for the fees myself." I gave her a look of surprise as she continued, "Even if it had already passed away by the time you came here, I still feel awful about not being able to have the chance to save it. I can't bring back the dead, so I try to help ease the loss by paying for funeral arrangements at the Pokémon Tower."

"I…I'm not sure if I'd make it there in time…for his funeral."

"Well, then we can just put our money together and pay for a little grave that you can visit when you've got the chance."

I sniffled without meaning to. I stared at the nurse for a little while before silently agreeing and giving her most of my money—even though she only asked for a third of it. Cost meant nothing in a matter like this. A grave for Nidorino was the least I could do. The nurse then left my room, telling me I should spend the rest of the day at the center to recover from my experience.

I spent the rest of the daylight hours staring up at the ceiling, trying to overcome the pain of what happened. I was lonesome, but I didn't have it in me to call out my Pokémon for companionship. Pikachu was inside of his ball for the first time since I first met him in Pallet Town, and I was sure it was because of me. What he and Charmander must think of me now… By the time night fell, I started to stare outside of my window. The dark sky dotted with stars made me think of the Moonstone that was still in my bag, and I started to cry quietly until I fell asleep from exhaustion and my pounding headache.

 **X-X-X**

In the morning, I left the Pokémon Center, remembering to thank the nurse who was kind to me yesterday. She was nice enough to give me some medicine for the road, saying that a trainer ought to be prepared for anything on the road. She also told me that Nidorino had been received by the Pokémon Center in Lavender Town, who were nice enough to release him from his ball so I could be free to have a team of six. It was nice to know that not all strangers were as cruel as Team Rocket—something I would have to remind myself as I continued on my journey.

The walk down Route 4 was miserable for me. I would see wild Sandshrew and Mankey and, rather than pursue them in the hopes of catching and adding them to my team, I would stare listlessly and just continue on my way. I'd flinch at the sight of wild Ekans slithering out of the grass, reminded of that Arbok and in turn, Team Rocket. I was challenged by trainers and, although I willingly accepted in the hopes of taking my mind off of things, the few battles I wound up winning were only due to my opponents' incompetency or lack of experience. Charmander appeared to be miserable as well, since not even our few victories brought joy to him, and Pikachu still refused to come out of his ball.

My miserable mood continued as I entered Cerulean City. There were fields of bright, colorful flowers and fountains of sparkling clean water. I saw an ad for a bike shop that, normally, would've caught my attention and make me think of saving up for a bike when I had the chance. But today, I felt…for lack of a better word, _dead_ inside. It didn't seem as if anything would make me feel better. I wondered if maybe I should take time off for a mourning period of some sort. The Pokémon League wasn't going anywhere, and my urge to become the Champion before Blue could be put on hold for a while. I'd take the advice Professor Oak had given me and see what Cerulean had to offer while regaining my senses. Not to mention that I promised to send Charmander off to the professor for observation, so I didn't see the point of challenging the Gym Leader just yet with only one Pokémon that wasn't even coming out. So I soon found myself in the Pokémon Center to call up the professor and tell him I was going to transfer Charmander. Then, I wound up having to tell Charmander what was going to happen. He didn't look happy to say the least.

"It's okay. Professor Oak is a very nice man. He just wants to learn more about you. And when he's done, he'll send you right back to me. It might take a day or two, but you'll come back," I told Charmander as we stood in front of one of the personal computers in the front lobby. Charmander made a whining sound as he began to scratch himself. After a while, his claws pulled off a couple of scales, revealing raw and slightly bleeding flesh underneath. I stroked the Fire type's head to calm him down and managed to pull his claws away from him. "And please try not to scratch yourself while you're away. I don't want you getting sick." I then hugged the little lizard Pokémon goodbye, getting a hug in return. It made me happy, because it meant that he didn't hate me for what happened. Smiling, I sent Charmander into his ball before depositing him into the PC and sending him off to the account number Professor Oak told me.

If only Pikachu would come out and convince me that he still had a sliver of affection for me, too.

 **X-X-X**

I wanted to know where the best places to spend time in Cerulean City were, but I wasn't keen on speaking with any of the trainers in the center. I asked one of the nurses who wasn't busy at the front desk, and she was more than nice enough to exuberantly tell me some of her favorite spots to spend time at when she wasn't on her shift. A lot of them didn't sound very intriguing to me, but one stuck out: up to the northwest on Route 25 was Cerulean Cape. It was a very popular place, it seemed. Although I was never one for big crowds, I decided to go there anyway, thinking that maybe the familiar sight of the ocean would make me feel better.

However, on my way up there, I came across the oddest sight in the middle of an empty street. There was Blue and his Eevee, and they were battling a…Bulbasaur? Yeah, according to my Pokédex, it _was_ a Bulbasaur. It looked mostly the same as the one shown in the Pokédex, but its bulb had streaks of black and purple along its sides. How lucky was it for Blue to find a wild one—and in a city of all places! Then again, I'd caught Charmander less than a handful of days ago, so my luck had to be about the same.

"Alright, Eevee! Use Dig!" Blue commanded his Pokémon. Eevee began to quickly dig away at the dirt path until he burrowed down under the road. I'm not sure if that was something you were allowed to do in towns. In seconds, Eevee had leapt up out of the ground from beneath the Bulbasaur and made it fall back onto its bulb. "Now use Tackle!" A tackle from the Normal type made the Bulbasaur roll back onto its stomach. "Alright! Now you're _mine_!" Blue exclaimed as he threw a Poké Ball at the Grass type. It went inside, but it was barely a second before the ball broke apart and Bulbasaur came out with an angry cry. In a flash, a pair of vines shot out from beneath its bulb and grabbed Eevee before it could react. "Break free, Eevee!" I watched as the Bulbasaur began to raise and slam the Normal type to the ground for a few seconds before it sprayed out some purple liquid from its bulb. The liquid splashed onto Eevee and wisps of smoke rose off of its body.

"Hey, you! Stop!" At the sound of an adult's voice, Bulbasaur released Eevee and ran away.

Blue approached the fallen Eevee and crouched down next to it. "Eevee! Are you okay?!" He reached a hand out to touch his Pokémon, but was stopped by a spray of water hitting it first. "Wh-what the heck?!" Blue stood up and glared in the direction of the water attack. "Hey! You've got a lot of nerve attacking my Pokémon while it's down!"

A police officer then came into view with a Poliwhirl next to him. "Sorry 'bout that, kid. But you shouldn't touch a Pokémon so quickly after it's been soaked by an acidic move." As if trying to help more, the officer's Poliwhirl began to lightly spray Eevee with water from the center of its spiraling belly. The smaller Pokémon responded with a happy yip. "Anyway, it's my duty to bring in that Pokémon."

" _Bring it in_? What, did it commit a crime?" Blue asked jokingly.

"It's no joking matter, son. It just killed a man."

Blue's smirk disappeared from his face and was replaced by a look of shock. "S-seriously?!"

"Yup. Of course, the _'victim'_ was a Team Rocket member who broke into someone's house down the road. They killed the owner of the house in the process and that Bulbasaur killed the Rocket in response. Did a real number on 'em, too, burning them up with that acid."

Blue looked down at his Eevee, who was all clean now, and gulped. "S-so it's dangerous, huh?"

"At the moment…yes. Though I don't really blame the little critter for doing what it did. I doubt it's going to be put down for self-defense, though. It'll probably just go to its owner's family or sent to a Pokémon house. At least… _I_ hope so. If you see it again, _don't_ try to catch it and don't _approach_ it for your own safety. Have a nice day." With a tilt of his hat, the officer walked off with his Poliwhirl.

Blue gave a sigh of relief. "Geez, talk about a close one! We don't need any homicidal Pokémon on _this_ team, do we, Eevee?" At that moment, his Eevee noticed me and began to bark. It ran up to my feet and began sniffing and pawing at my shoes. That made Blue notice me, which made him put a smirk on his face. "Well, if it ain't Red!" He walked up to me and put his hands on his hips. "I didn't take you for the type who eavesdrops on conversations!"

I stared at Blue in silence, but not because I wanted to tick him off. A part of me was struggling between wanting to tell him what happened and cry on his shoulder…or just saying nothing and going about my business as normal. A part of me wanted my friend back, if only for a little while, so I could have someone I knew well comfort me in person. But another part of me didn't want more pity or reminders of what had happened. "…It isn't eavesdropping if it's out in public. Otherwise, everyone would be eavesdroppers."

"Whatever! Since you're finally here, let's have that battle!" Blue exclaimed, his Eevee yipping excitedly.

"No."

Blue's smirk became a frown. "Why the heck _not_?! If you're too afraid to face me, just _say it_! I won't think less of you…by a lot."

"I only have one Pokémon with me right now and that's Pikachu."

Rather than ask why that was, Blue snorted. "Seriously? Just _one_? Don't tell me you only had that shock rat of yours when you won the Boulder Badge!"

"No, but, I…recently released one and sent the other one I have to Professor Oak for him to study for a little while."

"Please! What could _you_ catch that Gramps would be interested in studying?" I didn't say anything and just stared at him, slightly happy that he didn't ask what I released and why. "Whatever! I only need my Eevee to beat that rat of yours!"

"But your Eevee's been hurt. Shouldn't you go to the Pokémon Center and heal it first?"

As if realizing that just now, Blue looked down at his Eevee and took in its slightly injured and slightly wet appearance. "…Fine. I'll go and heal Eevee. But when I come back, we're gonna battle!" The red-headed boy then ran off with his Pokémon trailing behind him, shouting, "So you better wait there!"

I stood in the middle of the road for a few seconds before I turned on my heel and resumed to the north of Cerulean City. I knew that battling Blue meant I wouldn't win—not _now_ while I was in a funk and Pikachu wasn't coming out. And my pride wanted me to avoid Blue's teasing—which would surely last for days—if he won, so avoiding him was my best option. I felt bad about just bailing on him, though. Maybe when Pikachu and I were feeling better, Blue and I could finally have a battle. But not until this pain was gone.

 **X-X-X**

The only way to Route 24 was across a bridge that stretched out over a river. I thought it would make a nice addition to my little stroll to Cerulean Cape until I came across a sign just before the bridge.

"Take the Nugget Bridge Challenge. Defeat all five trainers on the bridge to win a pure gold nugget," I read off the sign. I sighed and began to think about my rotten luck. Money was an important part of a trainer's journey, and after spending a lot of my money on Nidorino's grave, I was in severe need of some more. I could've sold that nugget to make more money, but, considering the circumstances, I was in no condition to compete in the challenge. I wound up walking up the bridge, expecting to be challenged the entire way through it, but I found no one. Eventually, I reached the end of the bridge, where a young boy dressed in camping gear stood with an annoyed expression. "Excuse me. Is this where you take the Nugget Bridge challenge?"

The camper boy looked at me in confusion. "Huh? No, I'm not the guy in charge of that! I was training my Pokémon so they'd be strong enough to win, but by the time I was finished, everyone was gone, so I guess they ran outta nuggets or something. I really wanted one, too…"

I left the camper alone to mope and proceeded onto Route 24. Across the river, I could see Pokémon moving through the tall grass and a few Poliwag and Psyduck jumping into the water with loud splashes. Occasionally, Goldeen and Magikarp would rise to the surface of the water before diving back under. If I felt better before leaving, I might try to catch a Water type. Charmander and Pikachu were both weak to types that were weak against Water type moves, and once it evolved, we might even be able to ride it in the water. That was a nice thought, right? Swimming through water on the back of a Pokémon, riding the waves, enjoying the sun. Maybe if I think more about how wonderful that would be, I'd feel—

"AAAAAHHHH!" A scream from further north disrupted my thoughts. Looking forward, I saw a man running away from that same Bulbasaur I saw Blue trying to catch minutes ago. The Bulbasaur had its vines out and was seemingly trying to tie up his legs to trip him, but the man kept nimbly jumping to avoid them. "UWAAAAAH!" The chase continued up a hill, up to a big tree. The man scrambled up into the tree, disappearing up into the leaves, and the Bulbasaur began to headbutt the tree to try and get him down.

I was wondering if I should go and contact the police, but the man's attempt to curse off the Bulbasaur made it start to whip the tree between headbutts. If I left them alone, that the man might get hurt. So against my common sense, I picked up a rock, got a few feet closer to the Bulbasaur, and threw it at the Pokémon's behind. This made the Bulbasaur turn around and glare in my direction, growling. "Um… Get away from there! Pick on someone your own…species…" I trailed off as the Bulbasaur narrowed its eyes and began to brandish its vines.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before I gulped and started to run to the _east_ towards a _dead-end_ instead of to the _south_ where the police were. But at least that man was safe. A small comfort, but it was nice to think _something_ good came from this _stupid_ attempt at bravery. I ran through a maze of trees, dodging trainers and wild Pokémon as I managed to stay far enough from the Bulbasaur that it couldn't harm me. But for something with such stubby legs, it moved really fast!

Eventually, I made it to a dead end: the Cerulean Cape that overlooked the sea. The only reason I stopped was because of the fence surrounding the seaward part of the cape. I spun around just in time to see the Bulbasaur reach the top of the steps, cracking its vines like whips. I gulped and, on reflex, took out Pikachu's Poké Ball. "I need your help…Pikachu!" I exclaimed as I released the mouse Pokémon out in front of me.

Pikachu stared forward for a few seconds before turning around to look at me. Why did he seem so surprised? Was Pikachu…just _waiting_ for me to bring him out? Or did he not expect me to call on him? I didn't have the time to think it over, because the Bulbasaur lashed his vines at Pikachu while his back was turned. Pikachu flinched and cried out in pain before turning around to glare at the Grass type Pokémon, electricity crackling from his cheeks.

"Wait! Electric type moves won't damage it much!" I exclaimed before Pikachu could try and shock it. "Use Thunder Wave instead and paralyze it!" Pikachu nodded before unleashing zapping the Bulbasaur, paralyzing it. The Bulbasaur attempted to retaliate with its vines, but they froze in midair when it tried to lash Pikachu again. "Now use Quick Attack!" The Electric type dropped to his feet and charged forward with a cry. He tackled into the Grass type with enough force to send it sliding backwards and tumbling down the stairs. I ran over to the stairs and looked down. The Bulbasaur was at the bottom of the stairs, slightly injured from the fall and struggling to stand up. I headed down the stairs, stopping a few steps above the Bulbasaur. I took out an empty Poké Ball and threw it down at the Bulbasaur. In a flash of light, the Grass type went inside the ball. It shook once…twice…and then broke apart, releasing the Bulbasaur. "Shoot! And it was so close!"

The Bulbasaur growled and its bulb began to shudder. The bulb spat out that purple liquid, the same as before, aimed right at me. I raised my arms in a stupid attempt to cover my face when Pikachu gave a shout before jumping in front of me. The acid hit _him_ instead, and the electric mouse fell onto the Bulbasaur. The Grass type managed to stand, extended his vines, and wrapped one around Pikachu to raise him up into the air. Just like with Blue's Eevee, the Bulbasaur gave him a harsh lashing with its vines. Then, its bulb began to shudder, as if preparing to spray more acid.

At that moment, a memory of what happened to Nidorino flashed through my mind. This wasn't some safe trainer battle—it was an upset wild Pokémon and it was directing its anger towards anyone it could. I couldn't bear the thought of losing Pikachu, too. Not so soon. "STOP!" I wound up shouting at the Bulbasaur. It stopped whipping Pikachu to look at me. "Don't…don't hurt my Pikachu because of me! Leave him alone!" As if a young boy's words could stop a rampaging Pokémon.

…Actually, my plea seemed to do that. The Bulbasaur and I stood there for what felt like minutes, staring at each other. After a while, the Grass type dropped Pikachu, then it turned and walked back the way it chased me from. That was all it took? Amazing. But before I could marvel at what had happened, I knelt down beside Pikachu and almost made to pick him up before I remembered what the policeman had told Blue about the acid. I wound up using the few bottles of water I had left with me to wash off Pikachu against his will. Although he ended up coughing out mouthfuls of water and glaring at me, he looked clean and safe for me to touch.

So I hugged him. I hugged him as tightly as I used to do my Pokémon dolls when I was a small child. And I cried very hard, although I managed to control myself enough that my headache was only slight. I cried like a child and conveyed my sadness and worries in a flood of words that may have sounded nonsensical to most, and I swore I could hear Pikachu crying as well. I didn't know what he was saying, but I felt like we were experiencing the same sort of pain…and it was just so nice to have someone to share it with. I felt as if a large part of that giant weight on my heart had lifted.

Eventually, I was able to stop crying and properly speak. "Pikachu…I don't want to stop my journey because of what happened. I want to keep going and get stronger with you and Charmander. Is that okay? Do you think…Nidorino would want that?" Pikachu didn't wait a second to nod. "Does that mean you want to stay with me?" Another nod. "Then…I guess we have to train for the Cerulean City Gym Leader."

"HEEEEEYYY!" I jumped at the sound of a loud voice. I looked up and saw a man running towards me. He had short brown hair that had leaves and twigs in them, and wore a blue shirt with pea green pants that were both stained with dirt and mud. "It's you! You saved me from that Bulbasaur back there!"

"Oh, yeah. You were the one being chased. Are you okay?" He ran pretty fast for someone who looked so beat up.

"I'm fine! Fine for someone who got whipped, chased up a tree and then fell _out_ of said tree, that is." The man sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he began plucking out the leaves and twigs. "I saw a wild Bulbasaur and got _so_ excited that I ran out to try and catch it! But it was as strong as it was unusual-looking… Then again, battling was never my forte." The man's eyes then brightened and he looked at me in anticipation. "Did _you_ capture it, at least? I just want to see it up close without it whipping me!"

"Um…no. I didn't capture it." Although I _wish_ I did. A Grass type Pokémon could be pretty useful when challenging the Cerulean Gym.

The beat up man sighed and looked sad until he saw Pikachu. "Oh! A Pikachu! They're so popular and yet so rarely seen!" He got up close and began to touch Pikachu's ears and cheeks in a way that seemed to be upsetting the mouse Pokémon. "Two uncommonly seen Pokémon in one day! What a treat! Come with me to my cottage and I'll return the favor by showing you _my_ Pokémon!" The man pointed up north, and in the distance, I could see something I hadn't noticed before while fleeing from the Bulbasaur: a cobblestone path leading up to a house. "Oh, but how rude of me! I didn't introduce myself yet! I'm Bill Sonezaki, a true-blue Poké Maniac! And you are?"

"Red Ketchum." I remember Professor Oak saying something about a Bill with rare Pokémon.

"Well, Red! Come with me!" I followed Bill to his cottage. It wasn't training, but it would be an interesting experience.

 **X-X-X**

The moment I entered into Bill's home, I was overwhelmed by the amount of technology placed all over. There were computers, flashing screens, and other machinery that I didn't even recognize. As if that wasn't surprising enough, a Flareon and Vaporeon wandered out of another room and began to run around Bill.

"Hey, calm down! I wasn't gone for _that_ long." The Flareon and Vaporeon stopped running and sat down in front of their trainer, looking up at him curiously. "I had a slight bit of trouble with a wild Pokémon, but I managed to escape with little injury!" Bill turned to look at me. "I'm gonna go change into some clean clothes. Why don't you go through my PC and have a look?" I looked at the man in confusion. "Have you never used the Pokémon Storage system before? Since there's a law that you can only have six Pokémon, the storage system allows you to turn Pokémon into digital data and store them on your computer! It's like they become a computer file: they can be transferred to other PCs or stay there until you're ready to take them out! I personally do it so I can keep them safe from criminals who try to steal them."

"I…know that." And that's smart, considering that crime that took place recently in Cerulean City.

"You do? Oh, wonderful! It's a fairly new system that I made for trainers to use, so I'm sure not how many people know how to operate it properly yet."

After that, Bill went into another room to change. His Flareon and Vaporeon stayed behind—probably to keep an eye on me. Pikachu jumped out of my arms and stared at the two Pokémon in confusion. "Those are Flareon and Vaporeon. They're two of the Pokémon that an Eevee can evolve into when exposed to a certain stone." They were a rare sight not only because of their pre-evolved form's rarity in the wild, but also because elemental stones were hard to come by without spending lots and lots of money.

I then approached the computer Bill pointed out to me—the smallest, least complicated-looking one that was attached to another device that seemed like a container with six-sphere shaped slots for possibly Poké Balls. Logging on was as easy as it was in the Pokémon Center, though there was no need to put in an ID number. The moment I logged on, I was overwhelmed by the names that appeared before my eyes: Clefable, Arcanine, Alakazam, Lickitung, Scyther, Electabuzz, Magmar, Porygon and even a Dratini. And there were dozens upon dozens of Eevee. Did he _breed_ those or something? But among them stood out a handful of names that I didn't know. I found myself looking at their summaries, looking at their appearances, types and moves. They weren't like anything I'd seen before. I wound up taking out the Pokédex to scan them, but got nothing. I thought maybe it was because it couldn't scan a mere image on a computer, so I tried to search for their names manually. _Nothing_.

"OOOOH! That's a Pokédex!" I heard Bill's voice shouting into my ear. I almost fell of the chair from fright, but I wound up dropping the Pokédex regardless. "Uh, sorry. It's just that it makes me so happy to see the finished product!" Bill said as he picked my Pokédex off the desk and began turning it over and searching through its data without my say-so. "He asked for my help in setting up the Pokédex's connection with the PC storage system." Bill then looked at me. "So since you've got this, it means that you're acquainted with Professor Oak, huh? I guess you're really something to get one of these!"

"N-no… I'm just…lucky," I mumbled, eager to change the topic. "Um, what are these strange Pokémon in your storage system?"

"Hm? Oh, those are rare Pokémon from my home region of Johto! You can't really find them over here in Kanto."

"Pokémon…from Johto…?" I didn't really know much about the Johto region other than it was neighbors with Kanto and shared the Indigo League with us. "They aren't on the Pokédex, though…" I mumbled out loud.

"Oh! Is it because it's still the first model?" Bill asked. "When he was interviewed about the Pokédex, he said that it would initially contain a listing of Pokémon found in Kanto. He said that later generations of Pokédexes would be made with contributions by Pokémon researchers from other regions, like Pokémon not yet listed or new information on those already discovered. Heaven knows how long it could take, though, considering how big the world is. There could be hundreds, maybe even _thousands_ of Pokémon on this planet alone!" The man paused for a second before closing my Pokédex and handing it back to me.

"I…never thought of that." Just hearing it be put that way made me want to help Professor Oak with his research even more. I got up from the chair and bowed my head a bit. "Thank you very much for letting me see your Pokémon, Bill."

"You're leaving now? Well, lemme give you this before you go!" Bill handed me a ticket. "That's a ticket to get onto the S.S. Anne—a luxury cruise liner that travels the world! Oh, don't look so shocked. It's not for traveling. Rather, it's a ticket to get on and go to a party that's being held onboard. Those types of fancy-dos aren't my thing, but maybe _you'll_ enjoy it!"

"W-wow! A cruise ship ticket! " I've never been on a cruise ship before. I've never been on a ship _at all_. How exciting! "Thank you very much for this!" I spoke with a bit more enthusiasm.

"You're welcome! Just so you know, the ship's docked at Vermillion City down in the south. If you don't get there quickly enough, the ship'll leave port! I believe it'll be gone by…the end of the week."

My enthusiasm quickly disappeared after that. "O-oh… I see."

As I left Bill's cottage, I was changing my plans for my journey in my mind. I could take time to train a bit before challenging the Cerulean Gym and then go through Saffron into Vermillion. Then I'd challenge the gyms in Vermillion and Saffron before moving on to Celadon. Yeah. That could work. That'd be perfect.

"Alright, Pikachu. We're going to catch some Pokémon and train hard so we can challenge the Cerulean City Gym. And then…we can go on a cruise ship!" Pikachu's only response to that statement was to cock his head and make a sound of confusion.

"THERE YOU ARE!" I raised my head and looked forward to find Blue running towards me with an angry look on his face. Oh, right. I lied to him about waiting and left. "Think you're so sly, huh?! Well, I'm not gonna let you run away again until we have a battle! So stand still and take your butt-whupping like a _man_!"

Pikachu snorted and made an annoyed sound. I stared at Blue for a few seconds before nodding. "Okay. We can battle." My childhood friend smirked. "But before that…" Blue gave an annoyed growl. "Something…bad happened to me yesterday and…I need to talk about it. Like… _really_ need."

"I ain't your psychiatrist! If you wanna cry like a baby, go call your mom!"

"…One of my Pokémon died yesterday."

It was as if those were the magic words to convince Blue. He went through expressions of shock, brief sadness, and finally, a neutral expression. "…Fine. Let's do this somewhere private, though. I don't want anyone to see you sniveling all over me."

Although he muttered about it like it was a bother, Blue was nice enough to be my sounding board for a while. After getting everything off my chest to Blue, I wound up heading back to the Pokémon Center to call my mom and tell _her_ what happened…but as I called home, I realized something: if Mom knew what I'd been through, she'd just demand I come home and spend all her days worrying about whether or not I was killed by some person, Pokémon, or nature itself. I couldn't lie—I didn't _want_ to lie to Mom, even over the phone. But I didn't want to tell her and make her worry herself sick about my safety…

So I told her about my trip through Mt. Moon and how I met some very tough trainers. I told her my Nidorino died battling a Pokémon and she assumed the culprit was a wild one. I told her how I met up with Blue in Cerulean and we spoke in a civil way. I didn't lie—I just didn't describe everything in incredible detail. And for that, I was able to get the motherly love and kindness that always made me feel better without upsetting Mom.

" _I'm actually a little glad that you're not letting this stop your journey…as bad as that sounds,"_ Mom spoke. _"There's not a person alive who doesn't run into misfortune at some point of their life. The important thing to do is to keep looking forward…and know that your Pokémon is probably watching you from the other side. So don't disappoint it!"_

"Right. Thanks, Mom."

" _O-oh, but don't stress yourself so quickly because of that! Don't push yourself too hard! If you need to take some time to relax, do it."_

"I know. I did, Mom."

" _Good. Ah! Lunch is ready! I hope you'll do well in your next gym battle, honey! Bye!"_

"W-wait!" I spoke with a raised voice. "Mom, I…I wanna talk a little while longer…please?"

"… _Okay. Just hold for a moment and I'll be right back."_

It sounds pathetic, doesn't it: begging my mother to stay on the phone? But I felt comforted by the sound of her voice. Before I had Blue, Mom was my closest friend and biggest source of comfort and reassurance. She still was, I guess, even if I had to hide bits of the truth from her.

I wound up staying on the phone with Mom for so long that she realized her lunch had long since gone cold and I noticed the long line of people behind me waiting to use the phone.

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes_

 **There is no Pokémon Center outside of Mount Moon near Cerulean City in any of the games featuring Kanto.**

 **Bulbasaur cannot learn Acid.**

 **Sonezaki is Bill's last name for the Japanese games. His full name in Japanese games is Masaki Sonezaki.**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for the sake of Blue and Pikachu!**


	6. Chapter 6 - A Tomboyish Mermaid

**A big thanks to everyone who's following this story! I think this story's been easier to write than** _ **Pokémon Cold Gray**_ **for one reason only…I have a clear idea of how many chapters it's gonna take to finish this story up. Thank goodness Gen 1's legendary Pokémon didn't have much of an impact on the story…but I'll see what I can do with at least** _ **two**_ **of them…**

 _Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Only this fic._

 _Chapter Summary: After overcoming their respective funks, Pikachu and Red prepared for the oncoming gym battle with Cerulean Gym Leader Misty! But even if they managed to get some new allies, can they succeed and win a gym badge?_

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 6: A Tomboyish Mermaid!~_

Guilt can really do a number on you. After Nidorino died, I blamed myself. I stayed cooped up in my Poké Ball, too ashamed to face Red and Charmander because of what happened. The inside of my ball was like a small, comfortable room, but I hated it. It felt like being back in a cage again, all alone with no company. I figured that it was an acceptable punishment for what I had done. But then, something happened that I never expected: Red sent me out. He called for _me_. And when I was in trouble, he _cried_ over me, like my life was worth worrying over. And then he started saying how he didn't want to lose me, how scared he was, how sorry _he_ was that _he_ couldn't do anything. I wound up crying alongside of him…because it was all _my_ fault that he felt this way.

I had to make it up to Red. I had to get stronger so I could protect him and make sure _nothing_ bad happened to him, Charmander, and whoever was going to join us in the future. It was the least I could do for the trouble I caused.

"This spot should do." I stopped thinking when Red spoke. After leaving the Pokémon Center in Cerulean City, we headed back up north to that route with the bridge. I watched the boy as he sat down by the riverside and took a stick and string out from his bag. He tied one end of the string around the stick and the other end of the string around a berry that looked chewed up. "I can afford to waste Figy berries. I hate these things. And if it can get us a Water type Pokémon, I won't complain." As in something that can swim, right? Red looked at me. "I know what you're thinking: if we're going up against a Water type gym, why aren't we trying to catch a Grass type?" Actually, _I_ was wondering how that berry might taste. "It's for coverage, mostly. Using moves that're effective against Water types is important, but it's also important to use Pokémon that can resist Water type moves. We'll catch a Water type first for the sake of resisting Water-type attacks, and then we can catch a Grass type. I'll be counting on _you_ to help with both of them since Charmander isn't here."

I nodded. "Right! You can count on me, Red!" I sat down next to Red and watched as he lowered the berry into the river.

"This isn't a fancy fishing rod—or even a good one, but this should hopefully work well enough."

We sat there for a long time. Red just stared down blankly at the water while I kept myself preoccupied by taking berries from his bag to eat. Between bites, I would look out into the tall grass growing in and around the water, keeping an eye out for Pokémon that wandered out of it looking for a fight. As adamant as I was about helping Red, I couldn't help being bored. I wished _something_ would happen…and it did. As soon as I closed my eyes, I heard Red screaming followed by a loud splash. When I opened them, I found Red splashing in the river, shouting out loudly before sinking beneath the surface.

"Oh, no! RED!" I jumped into the river to save my possibly drowning trainer…which was stupid, because I couldn't swim, either. So I wound up splashing around before sinking under the river's surface as well. Underwater, I saw Red also flailing and struggling to get back up to the surface. I struggled to move towards him, but before I could even get close, I saw something wrap around his neck just as I felt something wrap around my tail. I started to flail even harder before we were both pulled out of the water and dropped down onto the land. I started sputtering and coughing up water, and once all the water had left my lungs, I looked at the one who saved us. " _YOU_!" I bared my teeth the creature that stood before me.

It was that creature from before: the blue one with the plant bulb on its back that spat poison at me and whipped me! How dare it show its face in front of me after what happened?! "Yes. Me," he spoke apathetically as gave me a blank-faced expression similar to Red's.

"You nearly choked Red!" I snapped.

"Red? Is that your owner's name?" I only growled in response to his question. "You're being awfully rude considering that I saved your life. Then again, I only saved you because you were making so much noise…" The Grass type Pokémon turned around and walked off into the tall grass.

"Y-yeah! You _better_ run, you… _overgrown weed_!"

I heard Red coughing next to me and turned see him spit up water as he got to his knees. "Was that…what I think it was? I thought I saw…that Bulbasaur…" He rubbed his neck a bit before continuing, "I wonder why it saved us after we attacked it." Hey, that's right. You'd think that it would just stay there and watch us drown, but it bothered to save us… "Ah! M-my hat!" Red's exclamation of surprise made me jump. He started looking around frantically before finally looking at the river. "Did it go down the river? Oh, no!"

"What's the big deal? It's only a hat, right? Humans can just buy more, right?" I asked, but of course, Red didn't understand a word. I cleared my throat to get his attention and pointed down the river. "Why don't we go down the river to look at it?" I asked slowly, as if _that_ would help him understand.

"R-right, Pikachu! If we go down the river, we might be able to find it!" Red ran past me into the tall grass and I followed behind, happy that he was able to get the gist of what I was saying.

 **X-X-X**

After minutes of walking and careful searching, we finally found that familiar red cap resting on the bulb of that overgrown weed from earlier and Red's makeshift fishing rod in one of its vines. " _You_ again?! Give back Red's cap!" I snapped.

Red was quiet for a few seconds before he stepped towards the Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, could you please give me back my hat? _Please_?" The overgrown weed stared at him apathetically before one of his vines extended from under his bulb and struck the ground in front of him. I took that as a challenge and began to charge electricity. "W-wait! We don't want to fight!" Says _you_! "I just want my hat back! Please!"

"Don't trust him, Red! He _choked_ you!"

"Would you have preferred to drown?" the Bulbasaur asked plainly.

"Bite me, weed!" I growled as I prepared to shock him.

The overgrown weed began staring at Red for a few seconds before tossing the rod at his feet, then the soggy cap, and began walking past us. "I ate your berry, by the way."

"You _jerk_! _I_ wanted that berry if this idea didn't work!" I shouted as the Bulbasaur disappeared among the grass and reeds. Stupid _weed_ …!

Red bent over and picked up his things, shaking his wet cap a bit. "It certainly seems nicer than before. I wonder why." Who cares?! It's a dumb, greedy weed!

 **X-X-X**

Minutes later, we returned to our fishing spot only to find an old human sitting there instead. He also seemed to be fishing, but _his_ stick looked a _lot_ _less_ like a stick than Red's did. With a pull and a shout, the old man pulled a flailing orange Pokémon up out of the water. And then he just dropped it back into the river! What sort of madness _was_ that?!

"Good morning," Red mumbled as he sat down a good distance away from the old man.

"Mm? Oh, good morning! I didn't think any of the youngsters who lived around here _liked_ fishing!" The old man spoke cheerfully. Red mumbled something about not living in Cerulean, but I don't think the old man heard him. "But that's quite a pitiful-looking rod, son. Why, I doubt that would hold out even against a Magikarp! Uh, no offense."

"I…just want it to make a Pokémon come up to the surface." Once again, Red tied the string around a berry—this time a small pink one—and lowered the berry down into the water once more. It wasn't even a minute when that stick was pulled out of his hands and down into the water, floating up to the surface seconds after that. Red and I gave a growl of frustration at the same time.

"This really is sad to watch... You just wanna catch a Pokémon? Tell you what, son: I'll let you use my rod here to pull one up to the surface! It's one of them fancy new Super Rods that're all the rage among pro fishers these days! This'll help you keep a hold of a Pokémon for sure!"

The man then handed Red the rod, who looked amazed at the sight of the thing, and began giving the younger human instructions on how to use it. He didn't even need to use a berry—just the fancy looking thing dangling on the end called a _'lure'_. With a swish, the lure was plopped into the water. We all sat there for minutes, waiting patiently until the rod began to whir and pull forward, although Red managed to grip it tightly and pull the rod back.

"You got a bite! Now reel it in, son!" The old man exclaimed.

"Urgh! It's…strong!" Red grunted as he began to reel it in—whatever _it_ was. I watched the water in awe as whatever Pokémon Red had caught was flailing so much that the surface was beginning to froth. Eventually, Red reeled it in with enough force to send it flying out of the water and onto the shore right behind us. Red looked shocked. "I…caught something..."

"That's _something_ , alright," I mumbled as I stared at the creature. It was small and blue with a tube-shaped snout, three spikes coming out of both sides of its head, and a little fin on its back the same pale yellow color as its belly. The creature floundered a bit before finally jumping up onto its curled tail, only to fall over pitifully. "What _is_ it?"

"What the he—?! That's a _Horsea_!" The old man exclaimed. "I didn't even _know_ you could catch a Horsea here!" He then added with a mutter, "And here I've only been catching blasted Magikarp…"

"Horsea… Right! Pikachu, go and use Thunder Shock!" I nodded and charged up electricity before zapping the Horsea. That was all it took to knock it out. Red had a Poké Ball out in an instant and threw it at the Horsea. It disappeared into the ball, which shook a few times before clicking. "Yes!" He ran up to the ball and picked it up. "It isn't able to walk on land, but it'll have to do."

"That thing can't even stand without falling over. What's it gonna do in a fight?" I asked, feeling skeptical of this Horsea thing's skill.

Red turned to the old man and bowed his head. "Thank you very much for lending me your rod, sir." He made to hand it back, but the old man held up a hand and shook his head. "Huh? Don't you want back your rod?"

"Nope. Truth is, I thought there was a problem with that rod since I only wound up catching Magikarp, but I guess that was just my bad luck. _You_ were pretty lucky with it, though, so why don't you keep it? Could be pretty handy!" The old human then added with a mutter, "Besides, I've gotten sick of fishing."

Red's eyes briefly widened in amazement before he regained his usual blank stare and bowed his head once again. "Thank you very much, sir." After the man walked away, Red looked down at me with a small smile. "What luck! We not only got a new Pokémon, but we also got a fishing rod! Although…" He looked at the rod. "I'm not sure if I'll ever use this again now that I have Horsea. It might still come in handy." He put both the rod and Horsea's Poké Ball into his bag. "Right. Now let's head back to the Pokémon Center so we can heal Horsea. Then we'll see if we can find any Grass type Pokémon."

"Finally! I'm sick and tired of just sitting around!" I exclaimed happily as I began walking beside Red.

 **X-X-X**

After heading back into town, it seemed as if things were looking up. At least until Red and I wound up being barreled over by something as it came running down a street. I was in a daze for a few seconds before I realized that I was now sitting in Red's lap alongside of that familiar and unwanted overgrown weed, now looking rather beat up. "You _again_?! Do you wanna finish what we started or not?!" I growled.

Red shook his head a few times before noticing the weed. "Bulbasaur?"

"Hold it right there, son!" A voice shouted. A male human dressed in blue came running up to us, followed behind by what I could only describe as a giant, tailless Poliwag with arms. "That's a dangerous wild Pokémon that's been attacking people in the city! I've got orders to orders to catch it." Yeah! Do that! If it'll keep that overgrown weed out of my sight, go right ahead!

Bulbasaur was silent, but he began to shudder, making Red stare down at him with an apathetic expression on his face. "…It isn't wild. It's mine."

"Eh? Now see here, son! I was told to capture a Bulbasaur with a very distinctive-looking bulb—just like _that_ one's. I've been chasing that thing for _minutes_ , so if you expect me to believe that it's _yours_ —!"

"It _is_. I got it from Professor Oak himself. His Poké Ball broke while he was out of it, but he wandered off before I could put him inside of a new one." I watched in horror as Red took out a Poké Ball that most likely was unused. He really wasn't going to… _catch_ that thing, was he? "Now Bulbasaur, when I put you in your ball, I need you to _stay_ in it until I _tell you_ to _come out_." Bulbasaur stared up at him with an apathetic expression for a few seconds before nodding. "Good. Now, in you go." Red lightly tapped the ball against Bulbasaur's head and it disappeared into the ball in a flash of light. The ball made a clicking noise without even shaking, and in seconds, the overgrown weed was back outside.

"Hmm… It doesn't _seem_ to be as feral as was reported… Could it really be another Bulbasaur?" The grown man muttered. "Still, it's got the exact same bulb that I was told to look out for!"

Red got up and dusted himself off while saying, "But if _one_ Bulbasaur has a similar pattern, that means there's a chance for _another_ to have the same pattern, right?"

"Listen to him. He knows what he's talking about," Bulbasaur said, nodding his head.

I, on the other hand, was _shaking_ my head. "No, he doesn't. Don't believe him."

The man stared at Bulbasaur for a few seconds before sucking his teeth and sighing. "Alright, alright! The fact that it's so well-behaved should've been the tipoff from the get-go. Do yourself a favor, kid: don't have that Pokémon wandering outside of its ball until we've nabbed the _real_ one—or at least confirm that it's left the city. Have a nice day." The man walked off, his giant Poliwag waving goodbye before following after him. I wondered why that thing didn't tip off its trainer that something was wrong.

I glared up at Red. "How could you _do this_?! Why do you always wanna catch the Pokémon that try to _poison_ me?!" I then turned to Bulbasaur. "And _you_! What kind of trouble did _you_ cause?!"

"I killed a human," Bulbasaur spoke plainly.

"Killed a _what_?!" It figures! He killed one human and then he tried to kill Red back by the river!

"Alright then," Red spoke, getting our attention. "Since you'll only get in trouble if you're seen in the city, how about I release you on one of the routes that _doesn't_ lead to a dead-end?"

For once, Bulbasaur's apathetic expression became one of shock. "You're…letting me go?"

As if understanding what he said, Red crouched down and continued, "I know what happened to you. I'm sure you don't want to be captured—not after your former owner was…killed by Team Rocket." What? His owner died? And Team Rocket was to blame? Did that mean the human he killed was _from_ Team Rocket? Why would he be in trouble for killing such an awful person? "You've only been acting this way because you're in pain, right? I understand, because I also lost someone due to Team Rocket…and it still hurts to think about it. But you know…even if the pain never goes away, it helps if you just let out your feelings about it instead of hurting innocent people out of anger."

That seemed to do it. The stoic Bulbasaur's eyes watered, and soon, he started to cry and bawl. "It's not fair! It's not _fair_! He was my only friend! He was the only human I could trust! Why did he have to die?! I don't want to be alone again!"

Red hugged the Bulbasaur close to him, stroking his bulb and head. "It's okay. You'll be okay." I stared sadly at the two of them until Bulbasaur was done speaking, although he continued to cry. Red attempted to lead the Pokémon away, but he stayed close to his leg. "What's wrong? Do you…not want to be alone right now?" The Grass type's response was to mumble as he stared down at the ground. "…Do you want to come with me, Bulbasaur?" The boy got a nod in response. "Because I intend to challenge people to Pokémon battles as I travel through Kanto. That means you'd have to train hard while you're with me and listen to my commands. It won't be as easy as living as a pet, or as free as being a wild Pokémon. Are you still sure you want to come?" Bulbasaur nodded even quicker. After a few seconds spent in thought, Red started to smile. "Alright. Then I guess you're part of the team now. Let's get you to the Pokémon Center so you'll get all healed up."

After Red returned Bulbasaur into the ball, I faked a sigh of annoyance. "Geez, what's with you taking pity on a Pokémon like _that_?" Not that I wasn't happy about his decision. I'm glad Red's as kind as he is. Maybe it wasn't a fear of being alone that made Bulbasaur want to come with us. Maybe he just realized what a nice human Red is. That's what _I_ would like to think, anyway.

We spent the rest of the day outside of the city on various routes, either challenging trainers or training to raise our fighting ability. I felt so exhausted by the time we returned to the Pokémon Center that even being healed did nothing to make me feel less tired. Red wound up carrying me to bed with him and I fell asleep in his arms. To be honest, even if he _did_ hold onto me a bit too tightly, I slept better that night than I did the day that Nidorino died.

 **X-X-X**

The following day, we spent most of the daytime continuing to train hard. I, of course, got stronger and learned some new moves, although Red complained whenever I used that ability of mine to whip up a wind. Red managed to succeed in teaching Horsea how to move—albeit slowly—on land and struggled to teach Horsea to attack in ways that _didn't_ involve using water. He also learned about Bulbasaur's little quirk: his bulb was actually full of some sort of liquid instead of… _plant_ _stuff_ or something. Because of that, he didn't know some moves that Red's Pokédex _said_ his kind ought to know, but he could spray acid and release a sweet-smelling yet poisonous gas.

During that time, I also got to learn a little more about my two new teammates. Bulbasaur was kind of like Red: his facial expressions were straight-faced or apathetic most of the time, but he was nicer than he looked. Horsea, on the other hand, was energetic and bubbly, often expressing a desire to go into the water that Red was always nice enough to grant—even if it was mostly for training. He reminded me a bit of Nidorino, and that thought compelled me to want to protect the little blue squirt from harm.

Red was feeling better today than he was yesterday and so was I. Because of that, he felt compelled to challenge the Cerulean City Gym the moment we returned to town in the middle of the afternoon, and I was eager to win another gym battle.

"Okay, Pikachu. You're going to be my secret weapon—my ace. If Horsea and Bulbasaur happen to lose, I'll be counting on _you_ to carry us to victory," Red explained once we stood in front of the Cerulean City Gym—a big, blue building decorated in pictures of Pokémon I didn't know. "But don't take it personally if we win before you get a chance to battle, okay?"

I huffed in annoyance. "I can beat a bunch of Water type Pokémon easily, you know!"

"I know that since you're an Electric type, you'd have a better advantage, but I'd like it if Horsea and Bulbasaur got a taste of what's to come on our journey. You know, for the experience."

"Alright… I don't like it, but alright," I said with a pout.

When we entered the gym, the first thing I noticed was the large pool of water in the middle of the room. There were humans swimming in the water, either on or alongside of Pokémon. One of the humans, a male wearing a tight white cap and goggles over his eyes, noticed us and came out of the water to greet us. "Welcome! Since you're dressed like that, I guess you're here to challenge Misty to a gym battle."

"Yes. Could you please lead me to her?" Red asked.

"Certainly." The man than turned around and exclaimed, "Hey, everybody! Misty's about to have a gym battle!" The people in the water began to clamor and come out. Red seemed to become more tense. The man didn't seem to notice as he gestured for Red to follow him. As Red walked stiffly behind the man and I followed behind _him_ , I looked at the humans trailing behind us.

"Hey, he's got a Pikachu!"

"Another kid trainer who thinks he can take down Misty's Pokémon with type advantages alone."

"I can't wait to see how he reacts when Misty beats him." And I can't wait to see how you react when we _win_!

We were led into a room in the back which _also_ had a large pool. But in the center of _this_ pool was a battlefield. Swimming around the water was a young human woman. She had bright orange hair put up into a short ponytail. "Hey, what's with the crowd, guys?" She noticed Red and stared at him in confusion. "And who might _you_ be?"

"My name is Red and I've come to challenge you to a gym battle," Red answered simply.

"Red, huh?" The young woman climbed out of the water, showing that she was dressed in clothing that was small, blue, and exposed a lot of her skin. Her clothes must've been ugly, because Red flinched at the sight of them and started to look away. "Aww, isn't that cute? What's wrong? Am I too pretty for you to take or is this your first time seeing a girl in a bathing suit?"

"N-no! I mean, I'm fine!" Red spoke, sounding panicky. "I…don't want to stare and seem indecent...!"

The girl giggled before she began to smirk. "Well then, Red! As Misty, the Cerulean Gym Leader, I accept your challenge!"

 **X-X-X**

Minutes later, Red and I were standing at one end of the pool while Misty stood at the other end. The humans who obviously supported her stood along the wall away from the pool, cheering for her.

"Yay, Misty! You can do it!"

"Show that kid how tough Water types can be!"

Red, who no longer seemed tense, ignored their cheering and settled for looking between Bulbasaur and Horsea's Poké Balls. "Who should I start off with…?"

"You can start off with _me_! There's no shame in showing these guys how tough a _Pikachu_ can be!" I exclaimed, tugging at his pants leg.

"Hey, Red!" Misty called out, drawing our attention. "It's said that only those trainers who have a policy about Pokémon can become pros! Well, _my_ policy is an all-out offensive with Water type Pokémon! You said you've beaten the Pewter Gym Leader? Well, my Pokémon can battle on land _and_ in the water!" She held up two fingers. "Since you're so young and probably still a beginner, I'll take it easy on you: I'll use only two Pokémon while you can use all that you've got! You'll get the Cascade Badge if you beat both of my Pokémon. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

"Good!" She picked up a Poké Ball that was resting next to her feet and released what was inside out onto the battlefield in the middle of the pool. What she sent out looked like a tan-colored star with a red crystal in its center that was lined with gold. Its jewel shimmered as it made an odd sound. "My first Pokémon is Staryu! Are you ready, Staryu?" Staryu, as she called it, jumped once and spun in the air for a few seconds before landing perfectly on its…feet…legs...the things it stood on. "Alright, Red! Show me your training policy!"

Red put away one ball and stared at the other for a few seconds. "Time to put your training to good work. Go, Horsea!" In a flash of light, Horsea appeared on the battlefield with Staryu.

The humans on the sidelines began to talk. "He's fighting a Water type with another Water type?"

"What's he trying to prove?"

"A Horsea? Are you trying to protect yourself from Staryu's Water type attacks by hiding behind a type resistance?" Misty asked with a smile. "Well, Staryu has more than just Water type moves! Use Tackle!" With another odd-sounding cry, the Staryu dashed forward, spinning as it did.

"Jump, Horsea!" Horsea sprang back and up into the air, just barely avoiding the Staryu. I smirked as I heard the humans on the sidelines gasp in awe. "Now use Ink Shot!"

"Ink Shot? What on earth—?" Misty didn't finish as Horsea fired a lump of ink down at the Staryu. The force of the shot made the star-shaped Pokémon fall onto its back, but it quickly got back onto its feet—so to speak. Horsea landed perfectly on its tail at the edge of the battlefield. "So, you're using Horsea's ink to attack, huh? Alright, then I'll use _my_ Pokémon's strengths to its benefit, too! Staryu, jump into the water and dive!" Staryu moved over to the edge of the pool and jumped into the water, washing the ink off of itself as it sank below the surface. "Use Double Team and come on out!" Just then, _five_ Staryu jumped out of the water and landed onto the battlefield, surrounding Horsea, who looked frightened after being outnumbered.

"Don't panic, Horsea! Most of them are just illusions! Use Bubble to find the real one!" Red exclaimed.

"Staryu, Swift!"

Horsea took a deep breath and sprayed out large bubbles all around him. But before the bubbles could reach the Staryu, they all seemed to fire glowing yellow stars from the jewels in their centers. The stars pierced through the bubbles and pelted Horsea, steadily forcing him back until he landed in the water.

"Horsea! Are you okay?" Red called. The little blue Pokémon poked its head up out of the water, a determined look in his eyes. Red gave a sigh of relief. "Good. Stay in the water and attack them with Water Gun!"

"Staryu, counter with _your_ Water Gun!" Misty exclaimed. The Staryu fired sprays of water from the tips of their top points. Horsea managed to dodge their shots while swiftly swimming around the battlefield, quickly firing shots of his own that dispelled the Staryu illusions until a spray of his water hit the real Staryu. It didn't seem to do any damage, though. "Use another Swift attack!"

"Dive, Horsea!" Horsea dove beneath the water to avoid the barrage of stars.

"Go in after it!" Staryu jumped into the water as well. I could see lights flashing beneath the surface. Ripples and bubbles formed along the water's surface. I could only guess what was going on, but I hoped Horsea was winning.

"Horsea, use Smokescreen to escape!" Red commanded. A part of the pool suddenly became clouded with murky black ink. After a few seconds of nervous waiting, the Water type came up to the surface, slightly dirtied by his own ink. Staryu came up to the surface as well and fired a barrage of stars at Horsea. The fact that the little guy was able to take all those blows and stay conscious was amazing.

Once the barrage had finished, Horsea began to shiver, his little fin flapping quickly. With a cry, he began to spin around. Faster and faster he went until the water around him swirled. It seemed like he'd gone nuts or was throwing a tantrum at first, but then a breeze began to blow inside of the room and a tornado formed around Horsea, a whirlpool forming around in the process. Staryu made what sounded like a surprised noise as it moved closer towards the tornado.

"Staryu, what're you _doing_?! Swim away!" Misty exclaimed. Staryu cried out, and I realized that it was being _pulled in_.

"It's like a _whirlpool_ …or a _twister_!" Red commented in awe as we watched the Staryu get pulled into the whirlpool, spinning around inside of it before getting sucked up into the twister. It got carried all the way up to the very top of the ceiling, at which point, the tornado stopped. "Oh! Horsea, use Ink Shot!" Snapping out of his shock, Horsea aimed up at the falling Staryu and fired several lumps of ink at it. Each shot hit its target, causing the Staryu to flip over several times before the final hit sent it flying back into the ring, landing on its back. The jewel in the center of its body flickered a few times before the light died out.

"…WHAT?!" Misty's followers shouted loudly. "Staryu _lost_?!"

I gave a sigh of relief at the same time as Red. I expected Horsea to start cheering with joy, but instead, the little blue guy floated over to our side of the field on his back, looking exhausted. "I won… Yay," Horsea spoke tiredly before his head hit the side of the pool.

Red smiled and crouched down to pick up the Water type Pokémon in his hands. He petted Horsea's head lightly before pointing his ball at him. "You did very well. I'm proud of you. Have a nice, long rest," Red said before returning Horsea into the ball, just as Misty returned her Staryu.

"Impressive! I didn't think you had a trick like _that_ up your sleeve!" Misty said with a smile. Unlike her human friends, she didn't sound too upset about Staryu losing.

"Neither did I," Red mumbled.

"But I'm not gonna waver!" Misty exclaimed as she held out another Poké Ball. "Look out! Here comes Starmie!" In a flash of light, another star-shaped creature appeared on the battlefield. _This_ one was purple and seemed like it was two Staryu stuck onto each other—it even had a red gem in its center, but bigger and even fancier-looking.

"Starmie…" Red looked down at Bulbasaur's ball. "This is going to be tough for you…but still do your best, Bulbasaur!" He exclaimed as he sent out Bulbasaur.

"A Bulbasaur? Doesn't he know that Starmie's part-Psychic?"

"That win against Staryu was probably just luck."

"Go, Starmie! You can do it!"

I growled at the crowd and glared at them. "Will you just _shut up_?!" I looked back to Red, who was chewing his lower lip. The nervous look in his eye made me worried. Was this thing _really_ that intimidating?

"Starmie might be Staryu's evolved form, but don't think it has the same tricks!" Misty exclaimed. Oh, so that meant that, at least _naturally_ , it was supposed to be stronger than that Staryu. But at least Bulbasaur still had the advantage, right? Grass beats Water. I mean, as far as _I_ could remember from yesterday and the days I spent training with Charmander, the big weed's worst enemies were birds and fire. So unless Starmie suddenly developed wings and a beak and started breathing fire, he was sure to win! Right? "Tell you what: you can have the first attack!"

Red made an annoyed growl. "She's that confident we can't win that she's giving us the first move…"

I frowned and started shouting, "Hey, weedy! You better not lose, or you'll make us look bad!"

"Bulbasaur, use Poison Gas!" Red commanded. Bulbasaur's bulb shuddered and thick, purple smoke was spewed around the battlefield, making it a bit more difficult to see. "Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur's vines shot out from under his bulb and went towards the Starmie. He quickly lashed the star-shaped Pokémon in several parts of its body, and it seemed to be pretty effective. They wrapped around it, and seconds later, acid was sprayed out from his bulb and onto the Starmie.

"Now it's _our_ turn. Starmie, use Psychic to free yourself!" At Misty's call, the Starmie's gem began to glow with a bright blue color. Bulbasaur also began to glow the same bright blue, and in seconds, his vines were pushed off of the Starmie and struck him in the face. While he was reeling from the stinging pain, Misty made another command. "Now use Psychic to push that Bulbasaur into the water and go after it!" Once again, Bulbasaur glowed bright blue before an unseen force pushed him off of the battlefield and into the water.

"Hey! That's cheating!" I shouted. "You can't just throw him into the water when he can't swim!"

As Bulbasaur splashed helplessly in the water, the area he was splashing in slowly became tinged with purple. "Bulbasaur, try to climb back up there with your vines!" Red exclaimed. Bulbasaur's vines attempted to grip the edge of the pool, but, since they weren't exactly _fingers_ or _claws_ , they only slid off. "No…!"

"Starmie, jump into the water and approach Bulbasaur," said Misty. The Starmie jumped into the water next to Bulbasaur. In the midst of splashing, the Grass type flailed his vines against the Starmie. "Now spin until you make a whirlpool!" The star-shaped Pokémon began to spin around quickly and, just like Horsea, a whirlpool formed around it. However, there was no tornado, so Bulbasaur was dragged down under the water instead. After a few seconds, vines shot out from underneath the surface, flailing about. Red panicked and returned Bulbasaur to his ball. "Just because a Grass type Pokémon goes up against a Water type one, it doesn't mean that it's going to win. Especially if the fight's on the Water type's turf!" Misty proclaimed proudly as her Starmie hopped back onto the battlefield.

"Cheater! You're a _cheater_! He can't even _swim_!" I shouted, angrily waving my paw at the human girl. I growled as I heard her human friends cheer at Bulbasaur's defeat, those _jerks_. Meanwhile, Red had released Bulbasaur in front of him and began helping him spit up water. "Why _can't_ you swim?! If there are plants that float in water, _you_ should be able to, too!"

Bulbasaur glared at me weakly. "Does this bulb look like a lily pad to you?"

"Are you okay, Bulbasaur?" Red asked.

"I'm fine," Bulbasaur said with a nod. "I like water…but not in _that_ sort of situation."

"It's my fault. I should've realized that her Starmie would have at least one Psychic type attack." Red glanced up at Misty's side of the field. "But at least you managed to poison it as well as damage it quite a bit. Pikachu should be able to take it down a lot easier now."

"Oh, good. I didn't nearly drown for nothing…"

"Take a well-deserved rest." After returning Bulbasaur into his ball, Red looked at me. "This is it, Pikachu. Time to be the ace." He held out my Poké Ball. "Get inside so you can over there."

"… _Fine_." I pressed the button on the front and disappeared inside. I was only inside for a few seconds before everything appeared before me in a flash of light and I landed on the ground. Standing a few feet away was the Starmie…which was a _lot_ bigger up close! It made some odd sounds, but among them, I could barely make out words.

"I will crush you like I do the rest of your kind, little Pikachu," the Starmie spoke in a voice unlike any Pokémon's I'd heard. Its warped and distorted voice almost made its words unable to be heard unless someone was as close as I was.

"We'll see who crushes who!" I snapped, electricity crackling from my cheeks due to my eagerness to beat this star-thing.

"Pikachu! Use Quick Attack and Double Team!" At Red's order, I began darting about the ring, creating copies of myself after every few seconds until it seemed like a half-dozen Pikachu were running around. At that point, I began ramming into the Starmie while it was distracted with the fakes. Its body was hard and pointy, but I continued tackling it from various points.

"Starmie, use Psychic!" I attempted to ram into the Starmie to stop it from using those psychic powers, but I was a second too late. I found myself frozen in place, mere _inches_ away from the Starmie and close enough to see my reflection in its gem. Then, I felt a powerful blow that affected my entire body and shoved me backwards until I came to a rolling stop.

"I'm fading fast. Need to rest," the Starmie spoke as its gem flickered.

"It's weak! Finish it off with Thunder Shock!" I heard Red exclaim. I was soon back on my feet and charging up electricity. I was so preoccupied that I couldn't really hear Misty's next command over the loud crackling I was making. Eventually, I fired a zapping bolt of electricity at the Starmie…and at the same time, so did it—a much _bigger_ and more _fearsome_ -looking bolt of electricity that wound up consuming my own and striking me. Although it was an Electric type move…it still _really_ hurt! More than I was expecting!

"When a drop of water goes up against an entire ocean, it winds up getting consumed," Misty spoke smugly. "Starmie is weak against Electric type attacks, so to counter that, I thought it to use Thunder—it's the strongest Electric type move there is, and the only way for it to lose would be if a more powerful electric attack overwhelmed its Thunder. Thunder Shock, though, is the _weakest_ Electric type move, so it wound up being consumed by my Starmie's Thunder."

"S-seriously?! That's…not fair!" I exclaimed as Misty's human friends cheered. I looked back at Red and he seemed to be in shock. I couldn't take it. I got mad and I wound up trying to tap inside of me for some sort of attack that would help me take this _thing_ down and show _everyone_ not to underestimate me. I felt pain surging through my body for a split second before I…blew out bubbles. I went through that pain…for _bubbles_. "Oh, come _on_!" I whined as the bubbles floated over to the Starmie and popped against its gem. Naturally, it did nothing.

"Well… _That_ was something," Misty commented. "So, Red. Do you wanna give up now? There's no shame in admitting that you can't win against my Starmie."

I looked back at Red, who looked as if he was really considering giving up. "Don't you _dare_ do that?!" I shouted as I pointed a paw at him, drawing his attention to me.

"…We'll continue until an actual winner is decided." I smiled before putting back on my determined face and turning back to the Starmie.

Misty made a sound of annoyance. "Alright then… Starmie, Recover." The Starmie's flickering gem began to glow a bright gold, and so did the rest of its body. Eventually, the bruises and injuries it had been given seemed to vanish and its gem stopped flickering. It looked like it had healed itself, but it winced a few seconds afterwards. Right…because Bulbasaur _poisoned_ it. That Recover trick probably didn't cure it of poisoning…but the fact that it could heal itself was troublesome.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack and Double Team once more!" Again? But they already saw that trick before. I wound up running around the ring again, creating copies as I went along.

"Bubble Beam, Starmie!"

I was eventually dodging a spray of foam and bubbles that looked _way_ stronger than the pitiful ones that I wound up making. When one copy was hit and disappeared, I made two more to take its place while also jumping and ducking over the foam sprays and quickly tackling into the Starmie's hard body before hiding myself among my clones once again. It was _exhausting_ , but I knew I couldn't stop. The fight went on like this for a while before Red gave another command. "Now start using Slam and knock it back into the water!" I almost stopped running when I heard that. Wasn't that _bad_? Still, I changed my strategy from just tackling into Starmie to striking it back with my tail when I ran past. The force behind my tail strikes were surprisingly stronger than those of my tackles and I was soon pushing the star-shaped creature to the edge of the battlefield.

"Close enough! Starmie, use Surf!" Just when I was about to deliver the last blow and push Starmie into the water, its gem glowed blue once again. But instead of being repelled by a psychic force, I was swept up into a wave of water that suddenly overtook the ring and wound up pulling me into the water along with Starmie. "Now make a whirlpool!" In seconds, I wound up being caught inside of a whirlpool. I struggled hard to stay above the surface, shouting out and trying to take deep breaths of air just to swallow water.

"Pikachu! Thunder Shock!" Without thinking twice about it, I took a deep breath and put my effort towards charging up electricity. I wound up being dragged under the surface by the whirlpool's force, but I refused to lose my concentration. Still holding my breath, I unleashed the biggest amount of electricity I could muster. The previously dark water seemed to light up and I suddenly no longer felt myself being pulled along by the whirlpool. At that point, I could no longer hold my breath. I flailed about and tried in vain to swim up to the surface, but couldn't. Soon, my vision blurred and I lost consciousness.

 **X-X-X**

When I came to, I was inside of my Poké Ball. I immediately popped out of it, eager to breathe in _real_ air, and landed on the cold floor that I came to recognize as the Pokémon Center in Cerulean City. "Oh, it's _you_ again." I recognized the exasperated-sounding voice of a nurse from the center. She was carrying a tray with three Poké Balls, two of which were Bulbasaur's and Horsea's. "I know I can't convince you to go back into your ball, so I won't try." The nurse resumed walking and I ran ahead, through a hall of a many doors and glass windows that showed Pokémon being healed inside of machines or getting painful-looking surgery. I stopped for a few seconds to look into a window when I noticed a Staryu being tended to. It made me think of Misty, and more importantly, whether or not we beat her. Eventually, I made it to a pair of doors that slid open the moment I got close enough. I ran out into the lobby and jumped onto the counter, waiting for the nurse to finally catch up. When she did, she ignored my annoyed expression to put down the tray and speak into a microphone, "Red Ketchum, your Pokémon have been healed. I repeat: Red Ketchum, your Pokémon have been healed."

I spent a few minutes sitting on the counter as more trainers came and went. Eventually, I saw Red approaching and, out of excitement, I jumped off the counter and onto his head, throwing him off-balance. "Did we do it?! Did we win?! Tell me we won! _Please_ say we won!" I felt Red's hands grab my body before he pulled me off, held me in one arm as he fixed his hat, and picked up his Poké Balls with a quick "thanks" spoken to the nurse. "C'mon, _say_ something! I need to know!" I needed to know that we were the stronger one. That _I_ was stronger now. The stronger I got, the better I could protect Red and the others from anything and anyone that would hurt them.

I wound up being carried up into the room we had been staying in since yesterday. I was set down on the bed, and in seconds, I was joined by Bulbasaur and Horsea. Red stared at us for a few seconds before digging through his bag for something. He pulled out that shiny red case of his and opened it to show us a blue, raindrop-shaped badge pinned right next to the Boulder Badge. I was the first one to start cheering, and Horsea started doing the same while Bulbasaur looked confused.

"Why are you acting so happy?" Bulbasaur asked.

"I have _no_ idea!" Horsea exclaimed happily.

I stared at the Water type in disbelief before snapping, "We _won_! Don't cheer if you don't understand!"

Red reached down and petted both Bulbasaur and Horsea affectionately. "You both did really well for your first gym battle."

"Yeah! I knocked out a Staryu all by myself!" Horsea cheered. He looked at Bulbasaur. "What did _you_ do?"

"Nearly drown," Bulbasaur muttered darkly.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You wore that Starmie down a lot," I said, deciding to be nice for a change. Besides, he really _did_ help out.

"I still almost drowned."

"Take a compliment, you—!" I was interrupted by Red stroking my head as well. I found myself looking into his smiling face and stilled.

"You did really well, too, Pikachu. I'm really proud of the work you put in."

If it could be seen under all of my fur, Red would've seen me blushing as I smiled. "Yeah, well…I'm the _ace_ , right? Of course I did good work!"

"What's an ace?" Horsea asked.

"Probably something he made up," Bulbasaur muttered as he shook his head.

After that, we had our small dinner of berries and store-bought food. Between bites, Red spoke about what we were going to do next. "We're going to get up early tomorrow morning so we can leave the city. We'll head south to Saffron City. There's a gym there, too, but our destination is Vermillion City." Oh, right. Wasn't Red going on yesterday about Vermillion City and some cruise thing? "I have tickets to attend a party onboard a cruise ship that's docked there. Maybe we could see some people with Pokémon you can't find in Kanto. There's also a gym in Vermillion, too, and the leader there specializes in Electric type Pokémon. We'll challenge _them_ first before going to challenge the gym in Saffron—after we go to the party, at least." Alright! _My_ type of challenge at last! No giant rocks immune to electric attacks and no rings surrounded by water! " _And_ the city is next to the ocean, so you can go swimming, Horsea."

I blanched and dropped a berry I had been eating. "The _ocean_ …? As in _water_?"

"YAY!" Horsea and began to jump in place excitedly. "I can go swimming in the ocean!"

Bulbasaur shuddered and spoke flatly, "I don't want to go near any water that's deeper than I can _stand in_ for the rest of my life."

I sighed and held my paws over my eyes. "I feel the same way…"

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **It isn't possible to catch a Magikarp with a Super Rod in any core Pokémon game.**

 **Horsea cannot be fished up on Route 24 in the Gen 1 games, but it** _ **can**_ **be in the Gen 3 Kanto remakes and has a higher chance of being caught in Fire Red than in Leaf Green. You need a Good Rod to get it, though.**

 **Bulbasaur cannot learn Poison Gas—Poison** _ **Powder**_ **is the move it learns by level up. Horsea cannot learn Twister or Whirlpool in Gen 1—they're Gen 2 moves—and Ink Shot isn't a real move, but is more like an improvised Octazooka—another Gen 2 move. Likewise with Starmie learning Whirlpool—it can't until Gen 2.**

 **Staryu learns Double Team via TM. Starmie learns Thunder and Psychic via TM and Surf via HM.**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


	7. Chapter 7 - On The Way to Vermilion City

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. She only owns this fic._

 _Chapter Summary: Who knows what could happen while you're traveling on a route to another city? For Red, it leads to him encountering a strange-and troublesome-Squirtle._

 **X-X-X**

 _It had been well over a month since the incident at school—a month since I refused to leave my room and my mother, also worried about what I could do, let me get away with that. After that incident, most people would walk by our house in a hurry. Those who didn't were usually parents who came to shout at my mother and demand that we move away from "us nice normal folks," as they called themselves, and at one point, a fair number of bricks and rocks had been thrown through the windows of our home. We were effectively pariahs to everyone but Blue's family because of my…abnormality. And I could do nothing but cry and tell my mother how sorry I was for causing all of this._

 _It was around that low point in our lives, when Mom was seriously contemplating moving from Pallet Town to Cinnabar Island down in the south, that a stranger appeared on our doorstep. He called himself Mr. Psychic—not his real name, but a moniker he'd picked up in his life. He said he was a friend of Professor Oak's who was asked to help. Despite his mentioning the professor's name, the first time I met that man, I was afraid. Ordinarily, I would always be quiet when meeting unfamiliar people: my mother said I was shy, while Blue called me socially retarded. However, my fear of meeting with that man had nothing to do with shyness or poor people skills. It was fear of what he might do to me, or what I might do to him._

" _No need to be so quiet, my boy," Mr. Psychic said as he sat across from me at the dinner table in the living room. "I can't decide how I'm going to help you if you don't tell me what happened yourself." I didn't want to talk about it, especially since his help didn't involve getting rid of this power of mine._

 _Mom was in the kitchen, trying to respect our guest's privacy, but still worried enough to occasionally appear in the entrance and stare out at me to make sure I was okay. She'd been looking out when Mr. Psychic spoke, so when our eyes met, she mouthed something like, "Go on. Talk to him," before returning to dinner. So, against my desires, I told him what had happened that day._

 _He told me that I had some sort of empathetic telepathy—that I could transfer my feelings to the minds of others in the form of thoughts, and thoughts centered on negative feelings like pain, anger and sadness harmed those who received them. That was why what happened that day happened: the headache I felt was my telepathy as it connected to the minds of those nearby, forcing my pain onto them until it hurt them so much, they fell unconscious. Mr. Psychic said, "For many people with psychic abilities, it is important to master control of their emotions and thoughts. Otherwise, they might wind up harming many people, or worse, lose themselves in their own minds. So if you don't want to harm people or yourselves with your emotions, the first step is to control them."_

 _And so, I trained. I worked with Mr. Psychic until I was able to reach a point where I could assume I had full control over my emotions. Of course, maybe I learned how to do that_ _ **too**_ _well._

" _I'm just saying that…before, he was only shy and very quiet. Now I…can barely tell what he's thinking," I heard Mom tell Mr. Psychic after our very last session. "I'm happy that he can at least go back to school with little worry, but…he's so different now. Is that…normal? Is that how he's going to be from now on?"_

 _Mr. Psychic chuckled. "It's nothing to worry about, Mrs. Ketchum. If your son is trying to make himself a blank slate, it's out of fear of harming people again. So, you see, he's still quite an emotional human being. It will just take a while before he feels…comfortable enough to think that he has full control of himself."_

" _Will he really?"_

" _There are many psychics who've expressed fear over what they're capable of, including myself. But to overcome that fear is something we must all do on our own. Do you understand, Red?" I flinched from my hiding place at the top of the stairs as Mr. Psychic continued, "We'll meet again someday in Saffron City." And then he was gone. I felt sad about him leaving, even though we only knew each other for a few days. I couldn't really express it, though, for fear of what would happen._

 _~Chapter 7: On the Way to Vermilion City~_

I had been quickly making my way down Route 5 from Cerulean City. Upon reaching the end, I was torn between taking the quick underground path or the long way through Saffron City. That was because I remembered what Mr. Psychic had told me, about meeting him again in Saffron. Maybe he lived here somewhere. Maybe he was even the gym leader of the Saffron Gym, whose specialty I knew was Psychic type Pokémon. That would be a surprising way to meet up with him again.

The sight sensation of something scratching against my leg made me snap out of my thoughts. Pikachu was looking up at me, seeming slightly annoyed and impatient. At that point, I made up my mind. "Saffron's the largest city in Kanto, so it'll probably be full of crowds of people and traffic that'll slow us down. It'd be faster to just take the underground path to Route 6." I _said_ that, but I really _did_ want to look through the city, if only to find Mr. Psychic. However, it was just _too big_ to go around wandering aimlessly. I couldn't do that when I had such a tight schedule already to make it to the S.S. Anne.

We entered the small building to the east of the entrance leading into Saffron City. A few people were sitting on benches, sweating and panting as if the walk through the tunnel was difficult. We approached the stairs leading down to the underground path and just…stood there, looking down into the darkness. Our last trek through a dark place ended _miserably_ , and though this place had no wild Pokémon lurking about, there had to have been some rough and shady characters down there ready to threaten me for my money and Pokémon—just like on television.

"Excuse me, sonny," I nearly fell forward down the stairs at the sudden sound of an old lady's voice. I quickly recovered and stepped aside, allowing her to pass. If a little old lady was confident enough about entering such a place, I could be, too. So I went down as well…eventually…after being pushed from behind by Pikachu and recovering in time to avoid getting a cracked head.

Our walk through the underground path, while long, was uneventful. The only things we found down there were unused items that appeared to have been dropped, all of which I eagerly picked up in order to save some money but the suspicious antidote needles. I'm lucky Blue wasn't there to see me do it, because it'd just be another thing to add to the list of things he'd tease me about. Upon entering Route 6, I took a deep breath of fresh air and was ready to head to Vermilion City with no distractions.

"Hey, you!" A young voice stopped me from moving before I could even begin. It belonged to a young boy scout who eagerly ran up to me, all dressed in green. "You look like a trainer! Wanna have a Pokémon battle?"

I should've been hurrying, but instead, I wound up saying, "Sure." One quick battle wouldn't hurt. I could always run to reach Vermilion, anyway. "I'm Red."

"I'm Ricky! Prepare to fall victim to my _awesome_ Pokémon!"

Minutes later, we stood in the middle of the dirt road, several feet away from each other. The camper boy named Ricky was the first to send out a Pokémon. "Go, Weepinbell!" In a flash of light, a Weepinbell appeared, widening its large, open mouth as it flailed the big leaves attached to its yellow, bell-shaped body. They were deceptive Pokémon because, despite their dopey and harmless-seeming appearance, they were known to devour anything nearby them when hungry and melt prey with their body acid, and cut up those too big to fit into their mouths with their razor-sharp leaves.

I felt Pikachu needed a bit of a break after all he did in the gym battle with Misty, and sending out Horsea to face this thing was a no-go. So I decided to go with Bulbasaur, and maybe boost his confidence after losing his first gym battle. "Go, Bulbasaur!" In a flash of light, Bulbasaur appeared with a cry and began to stare down the Weepinbell.

"Cool, you have a Bulbasaur! But my Weepinbell can totally take it down despite the type resistance! Weepinbell, use Sleep Powder!" Ricky's Weepinbell breathed out a cloud of green dust that swept over Bulbasaur. In seconds, Bulbasaur had fallen to the ground, fast asleep.

"Wake up, Bulbasaur!" I called out, hoping to wake it up before the Weepinbell could attack, but he still slept. At that point, Pikachu began to shout and shake a paw angrily at the sleeping Grass type.

"Alright, Weepinbell! Jump in and use Cut!" The Weepinbell jumped forward, and when it came close, slashed at Bulbasaur with its leaves. The impact made Bulbasaur tumble backwards, but it also woke it up. "It's up! Weepinbell, use Sleep Powder again!"

"Close its mouth with your vines!" I commanded. Bulbasaur's vines came out from under his bulb, shot towards the Weepinbell before it could breathe out its sleep-inducing dust, and wrapped around its mouth to close it shut. "Now hit it with Acid!"

"Weepinbell, use Razor Leaf!" As Bulbasaur fired a spray of purple acid from his bulb at the Weepinbell, it flailed its leaves and fired a barrage of smaller leaves at Bulbasaur.

"Use your vines to knock away the leaves!" Bulbasaur quickly pulled back his vines, knocking aside the razor-sharp leaves on their way back to his bulb. Only two managed to hit him, but they didn't seem to do much damage. At the same time Ricky's Weepinbell was hit by the acid while it was coughing up the sleep powder it failed to exhale. "Now tackle it!" With a cry, Bulbasaur ran forward and charged into the Weepinbell's face, hitting it with enough force to send it tumbling back into its trainer. The Weepinbell gave a gasping cry before deflating a bit, having been knocked unconscious.

"You did your best, buddy…" Ricky spoke regretfully before returning the Grass type to its ball. He then took out another one. "It's your turn, Squirtle!"

I couldn't help but be surprised. "Squirtle?"

In a flash of light, a Squirtle appeared…or rather, it appeared while withdrawn inside of its shell. Similar to how Bulbasaur and Charmander didn't look like the pictures used for their species in the Pokédex, this Squirtle didn't really look like the Squirtle in the Pokédex—or at least, its _shell_ didn't. A Squirtle shell should've been a shade of brown, but this one's was a shade of gray with little bumps just barely visible on it. I couldn't tell if there was any difference with the rest of its body, though, since it was in its shell.

"Um, is something wrong with it?" I asked Ricky, who was looking annoyed.

The camper boy gave a strained and obviously fake smile as he answered, "No! Nothing's wrong! He always starts like this! He just likes that position, that's all!"

"O…kay," I spoke, unsure if what Ricky was saying was true or not. "Bulbasaur, use Poison Gas while it's stuck in there." Bulbasaur's bulb shuddered before it unleashed a cloud dark purple gas from within. The poisonous cloud surrounded the Squirtle, and in seconds, it was beginning to cough. "Now use Vine Whip to toss it around." Bulbasaur's vines shot out from beneath his bulbs and wrapped around the Squirtle, only for him to cry out in pain and retract them a bit. "What's wrong?"

"Heh-heh! Be careful! My Squirtle's got spines on its shell that make it difficult to touch! Cool, huh?" Ricky boasted. "Now, Squirtle! Use Bubble Beam!" But Squirtle did nothing. "Oh, come on! Squirtle, I _know_ you can hear me!"

"Try and wrap it once again with yours vines, Bulbasaur. But be careful when trying to pick it up," I instructed him. Bulbasaur nodded and began to carefully wrap his vines around the Squirtle's shell, wining slightly, but not letting go. "Now, toss it up into the air!" Bulbasaur gave several grunts of effort and attempted to lift the Squirtle up, but he didn't seem to be able to. The most he could do was pull it closer towards him a bit. "What's wrong?"

"Heck yeah! My Squirtle's _really_ heavy! It's about as hard as picking up a Golem!" I doubted that, but it _was_ odd that it was so heavy. A Squirtle wasn't exactly in the same weight category as a Golem or a Snorlax. Before I could ponder for much longer, a pair of blue arms and legs and a head popped out of the Squirtle's shell. While on all fours, it propelled itself towards Bulbasaur with its head lowered and rammed into his head. The force of the attack was enough to send Bulbasaur flying back into me, making me fall back just as I caught him. He gave a dazed groan, suggesting he was semi-conscious, but I knew he was in condition to battle.

"Bulbasaur… You did great," I said as I returned the Grass type into his ball. I looked down at Pikachu. "Alright, Pikachu. It's your turn." The electric mouse smirked and confidently strode in front of me, and called out to the Squirtle as he began charging electricity in his cheeks.

"Alright, Squirtle! You beat a Grass type, and now you can beat an Electric type!" Ricky exclaimed. "Just listen to me and we'll win this fight!" His Squirtle snorted and slowly stood up on its hind legs. "Now, use Bubble Beam to obscure its vision!" Instead, it withdrew into its shell, landing on the ground with a heavy-sounding thud. Ricky's response was to groan.

"Pikachu, use Thunder Wave to paralyze it!" Electricity crackled around Pikachu before it was fired at the Squirtle. Unable to dodge the jolt of electricity, the Squirtle was paralyzed. "Now use Thunder Shock!" A jolt of electricity was fired at the Squirtle. Miraculously, that seemed to be enough to make the Water type cry out in pain.

We all waited for the Squirtle to attack, whether on its own accord or by its trainer's command. But nothing happened. With a sigh, Ricky returned his Squirtle to its ball. "Never mind. I forfeit," the camper boy muttered as he shoved Squirtle's ball back into his pants pocket. He walked up to me and held out a hand. "That was a really good battle! You should go and challenge the gym in Vermilion City!"

"Uh, thank you. And I'm going to," I spoke quietly.

"Wow! I bet you've already got a bunch of badges already. Then it'd be no wonder that I couldn't win!" I dunno… That Squirtle might've been a threat if wasn't so disobedient. "Well, see ya!" Ricky turned and ran down the road. After healing up Pikachu and Bulbasaur, I decided to do the same.

 **X-X-X**

I refused battles with any of the other trainers we came across as I ran down the dirt road with Pikachu, only stopping to catch my breath. It would've been faster to run through the wild grass alongside of the river, but I couldn't risk literally running into Pokémon and potentially wasting lots more time than simply sticking to the road would cause. It would've been _even faster_ if I had a bike, but the one bike shop I'd seen had been in Cerulean City, and the price of their cheapest bike was far more money than I could splurge on a bike.

While lamenting both my lack of a bike and the smallness of my funds, I crouched down by a spot by the riverside, barren of tall grass that wild Pokémon could jump out from. I released Horsea into the water, remembering my promise to let him swim whenever I could, and kept an eye on him as I drank from my small bottle of water. On the other side of the river, I saw that scout boy, Ricky, send out his Squirtle, which was still tucked into its shell.

"Well…I tried. I _really_ tried. I felt bad for you when I found you drowning in the sea by Vermilion City. I heard you caused lots of trouble. I thought what you needed was a friend, but…obviously, you don't want to be friends with me," Ricky spoke sadly to the withdrawn Pokémon. "There's no point in training a Pokémon that refuses to listen. So…goodbye, Squirtle. I'm setting you free." The boy held down the button on the front of his Poké Ball, and in a few seconds, a beam of blue light hit the Squirtle, signifying that it had been released. Ricky then turned around and quickly walked off in the direction I had been going.

"That's sad," I spoke out loud. That Squirtle was an awful lot like Pikachu, I guess. Maybe if Ricky had stuck with it, he could've gotten closer to his Pokémon. I found myself staring at its shell long enough to be struck with an urge to catch it for myself. Whether it was a desire to give the turtle Pokémon a home and friends or a desire to complete my trio of starter Pokémon that fueled that urge, I didn't know, but I wanted to catch it. "You know what? We can take a while to go and catch that Squirtle, can't we?" Pikachu made a disgruntled sound while Horsea, not knowing what sort of personality Squirtle had, could only sound confused. "Don't act like that. You and I didn't get along at first, but we're friends now, right?" The electric mouse huffed and looked away. "Anyway, it's an interesting Squirtle. If I caught it, it might help Professor Oak with his research or something." Pikachu snorted and muttered something that was probably derisive. I took out an empty Poké Ball. "How about this? If I throw a Poké Ball, manage to hit the Squirtle with it, and it stays inside…that means I was meant to catch it."

I remained crouching as I took aim, bringing thoughts of baseball players preparing for a pitch. I threw the Poké Ball at the withdrawn Squirtle…but it wound up falling into the river, startling Horsea. I heard Pikachu laugh beside me while Horsea looked upset about me almost hitting him. "…One more try." I took out another empty Poké Ball, stood up, and threw the ball. It wound up going over the Squirtle and fell into some bushes, causing something within to cry out.

At that moment, a Psyduck walked out of the bushes holding its head. Its eyes, usually vacant, were glowing bright red and were narrowed in anger—probably because of the comically large bump on its head. The Psyduck spotted Squirtle and approached him, the grass spreading apart as the duck Pokémon walked. It spoke to Squirtle while pointing up at the bump at its head. Still within its shell, the Squirtle released a spray of foam into the Psyduck's face. I heard Squirtle's laugh echo out from inside of its shell before it was pushed by some unseen force into the river. The Psyduck laughed maliciously for a few seconds before its eyes suddenly stopped glowing and it regained its vacant look. It looked about in confusion, winced as it touched its bump, and waddled back into the bushes that it came from.

"…Well, that just happened," I stated casually, although I was a bit disturbed at seeing a Psyduck's abilities in person.

Horsea looked down at the spot in the river where Squirtle had been dropped, where bubbles were floating up to the surface. He dived beneath the water for a few seconds before coming up, crying out in toots as he looked between me and the bubbling spot. Pikachu, who understood what Horsea was saying, began to point at the bubbling spot while he looked up at me. Both had looks of concern in their eyes.

"Is Squirtle not okay?" I asked, not sure what they meant. Then again, it was attacked by some psychokinetic force, so _of course_ it wasn't okay, but…it was a Water type, right? Shouldn't it have been able to swim on up to the surface if it wanted air? I leaned forward to look into the river. Luckily for me, it was crystal clear and let me see the Squirtle, now on its back, flailing its limbs wildly as bubbles rose up from its mouth to the surface. So it wasn't injured. Just stuck. "Poor Squirtle. This is all my fault." Pikachu made a noise that sounded like he agreed with me. "But he's so heavy. If Bulbasur couldn't lift him up, I doubt _I_ could." An idea then came to my mind. "That might work."

Pikachu and Horsea could only stare in confusion as I pulled out the Super Rod from my bag. If I was able to get Squirtle to grab the lure, I might be able to slowly reel it in. I lowered the line into the water a few times, trying to guide the lure close enough to Squirtle for it to grab on. After ignoring the lure the first few times, Squirtle finally grabbed hold of it and I began to reel it in…and could I tell from the get-go how _heavy_ that little turtle was. Pikachu eventually joined in the grunting, suggesting that he was helping to pull Squirtle up as well.

"H-Horsea…! Try to…make a twister…like at the Cerulean Gym!" I spoke as I continued to try and reel in the Squirtle. Maybe Horsea could lift it up just enough for us to fish it out of the river. Horsea nodded, moved on top of the spot where the line had been, closed his eyes in concentration, and began to glow bright blue. A small whirlpool formed around Horsea before gradually becoming a twister of water. It worked a little _too_ well, though. Rather than slowly lifting Squirtle up, the twister's strength shot him up to the surface and pulled along my Super Rod for the ride. When the twister dispersed, both Squirtle and the rod fell down from the sky…and landed right next to me.

I stood there in shock of how close I'd been to getting hit by that Pokémon, especially when I realized how _heavy_ it sounded upon landing. I suddenly remembered what I had been trying to do. I looked at the semi-conscious Squirtle lying face down in the grass and grabbed a Poké Ball from my bag. Thinking that it wasn't going to struggle, I threw the ball down at it, only for the Squirtle to open its eyes and spray a burst of water with enough force to send the Poké Ball flying back and into my face. I promptly fell over, my hand reaching up to cover my eye. I heard Pikachu shouting at what I assumed was the Squirtle. When I looked up, the Water type was running away on all fours. It wasn't moving quickly, but I didn't feel compelled to catch it anymore.

 **X-X-X**

We were able to make it to Vermilion City by the afternoon. By that point, the pain of the black eye I got from that Poké Ball had dulled a bit, though it still stung occasionally. Pikachu kept giving me looks that said he thought I deserved it, and maybe I did. I saw how that Squirtle acted with Ricky, but intrigue made me want to make it my own. I supposed that was a lesson to go after something I could control.

Instead of focusing on the Squirtle that got away, I would focus on Charmander. According to the ticket Bill had given me, tomorrow was the last day the S.S. Anne would be docked at the Vermilion Harbor, and it would be setting sail at sunset. For putting up with…whatever the professor put him through for the sake of research, the least I could do was give him the gift of being on a cruise ship, maybe even seeing one of those famous Vermilion City sunsets like they showed in pictures and on TV.

So I went to the Pokémon Center, ignoring the nurse's questions when he asked about my eye, and went to call the professor while my Pokémon were being healed. But I was surprised to hear the voice that picked up on the other end. _"Hello, good afternoon. This is Professor Oak's laboratory. He's not in right now, but I could take a message if you'd like."_

"…Daisy?" No doubt about it: that was Blue's older sister Daisy on the other end of the line. "Um…it's Red."

" _Oh, Red! How're you doing? I haven't seen you in days!"_

"I'm fine."

" _Mm-hm. And your little rivalry with Blue? How's your challenging the Pokémon League going?"_

"I got my second badge yesterday."

" _That's great! Blue was just telling me earlier today that he got his fourth badge!"_

I dropped the phone in shock. _Fourth_? He managed to get _two more badges_ while I trailed behind him by just a _day_? No, it couldn't be true…but what reason would Blue have to lie to his own sister? I soon remembered what I was doing and picked up the phone. "Sorry. Phone slipped. I'm glad he's doing so well." I lied, and Daisy was none the wiser.

" _Well, I am too, but I don't want him getting too cocky. They say there's always gonna be at least one person who's better than you. I just want Blue to know it's okay if he isn't the best. Otherwise, he's gonna wind up like… Ah, what am I doing, gabbing your ear off like this?"_

As much as I wanted to know who Daisy was talking about, I left the matter alone. I told her about how I transferred Charmander to the professor for him to research and asked if she could ask the aides if it was okay for him to be returned to me. Minutes later, she confirmed that Charmander had been transferred back to my PC account.

"Thanks a lot, Daisy. It was nice talking to you."

" _You, too. Remember to call your mother. Oh, and look out for Blue for me. Bye!"_ I hung up the phone and felt a bit bitter about her words. Blue already had four badges saying he was a better trainer than me. Why did _I_ have to look out for him?

Shoving my feelings of inadequacy down and regaining my calm, I left to go and withdraw Charmander.

 **X-X-X**

Charmander's reunion with our team was a happy one. Charmander didn't seem upset about my sending him off to Professor Oak, and I saw no signs that he'd been tearing off his scales, so I guess he was treated nicely while the Professor was researching him. Pikachu was glad that he was back and spoke animatedly to him, which made _me_ glad. Horsea seemed to like him from the moment they were introduced, and he seemed fascinated with the flame on Charmander's tail—at least until he got burned by it. Bulbasaur, though, freaked out a bit at the sight of Charmander's flame and attacked, starting a bit of a fight. Luckily, no fire or poison was used, and I only endured a few scratches and whip lashes as I calmed them down. Now they were both wary of each other and I felt it would take a while for them to get along.

In an attempt to foster some sort of familiarity, I thought we could go to the seaside and see one of those picturesque Vermilion City sunsets that commercials on TV were so fond of saying. To make the bonding go more smoothly, I kept Charmander and Bulbasaur out of their balls. I even kept Horsea out and carefully placed him inside of my bag, just so he wouldn't feel left out. The walk to the harbor was peaceful until I heard a noise like thunder, followed by a flash of light I saw from the corner of my eye. I couldn't help being curious, so I wandered in the direction of the flashing light.

As I got closer, I heard a voice shouting. Eventually, I was able to see the source. It was a policewoman, slouched over and looking exhausted. On the ground in front of her was that Squirtle from before. It stood proudly and laughed as it pointed at her. With a roar of frustration, she threw a Poké Ball at the Squirtle. It turned around and knocked the ball back with its tail, which seemed to shine for a brief moment. The ball hit the officer in a way similar to how I'd been hit not too long ago. "You little troublemaker! If I had any Electric type Pokémon, I'd zap you good!" The Squirtle stuck its tongue out at her, making her shout some obscene curses that I probably shouldn't have heard. Was she trying to capture it? Maybe I should help.

"Pikachu, use Thunder Shock on it." Pikachu winked and sounded delighted to attack the Squirtle. He ran forward, charging up electricity, and zapped the Water type with a jolt strong enough to knock it out. The Squirtle fell forward, unconscious. Pikachu looked pleased with his work.

"Wow! Thanks, kid! You have no idea how much easier this makes my job!" The policewoman exclaimed as I came towards her with my Pokémon. "I'd have dealt with that Squirtle myself, but he knocked out my Machop before he could be hit with any of her Fighting type moves." Fighting type moves? The officer gave the unconscious Squirtle a bitter look as she sighed. "I gave this Squirtle to some kid a few days ago. I thought that just because he had three gym badges, he could handle this thing, but if it's back here causing trouble, I guess he wasn't up to the task."

"This Squirtle's been causing trouble?" I asked, wondering what it had done.

"It's been attacking the local Pokémon Gym, which is part of my beat, so it's _my_ responsibility. It's been doing so since it first appeared a couple of months ago. I think the gym leader said its trainer abandoned it after he lost his challenge against the gym. Then it disappeared and I thought maybe it got its anger out of its system. But _then_ it came back a while ago looking like… _this_ with an even _bigger_ attitude problem! At first it was just harmless pranks, but now he's wrecking the gym's exterior every day! I don't even have any sympathy left for this… _Pokémon delinquent_! At this rate, I'd give _anything_ for him to just go away!"

"…I'll take it." Pikachu gave an upset cry and began what sounded like a rant, but I ignored him as I continued, "I only have two badges, but I _am_ a traveling trainer. And I've had disobedient Pokémon in the past, too, so I know how to handle them." Okay, maybe that last part was a lie. Getting along with Pikachu, Charmander and Bulbasaur was something that came along naturally. Maybe I could do the same with Squirtle. And if not…well, I could still give the poor woman a break and release him somewhere far from Vermilion City.

"…You know what? Fine, kid. If you've got the Poké Balls, you can catch this thing for yourself. I don't care if you raise it to be an upstanding citizen or just stuff it into a PC box for the rest of its days. Just make sure I don't see that thing around here causing trouble again, ya hear me?" The policewoman spoke sternly. I nodded stiffly. "Then catch it before it wakes up!" I did as she said and threw a Poké Ball at Squirtle. It barely shook before clicking, officially catching the Water type. The policewoman gave a sigh of relief before giving me a stern look. "Now see here, kid. If that Squirtle comes around here again and destroys anymore property, _you're_ gonna be paying the damages! Understand?" I nodded in silence. "Good! Now, if you'll excuse me…I need to go get some ice…" The policewoman walked away, holding a hand over the black eye Squirtle had given her.

I picked up Squirtle's ball and smiled down at my Pokémon. Charmander and Bulbasaur looked interested, but Pikachu was glaring up at me with his arms folded across his chest. I put the Poké Ball away and took a breath before leading the procession down to the harbor. We were able to see the sunset despite the detour on our trip. And I can certainly say that the hype about the sunsets here were true. I'm not sure how my Pokémon felt, but it certainly was a breath-taking sight for me. It reminded me a bit of home, although I don't think the sunsets looked quite as nice there. Still, I couldn't help feeling something stir within me at that thought. I wound up sitting there staring at the sunset, feeling awed and homesick at the sight of it until the sun finally went down.

 **X-X-X**

I usually only stayed out late when I was training my team. Most of the time, I would go to bed early so I could get up as early as possible to do what needed to be done. Although I wasn't planning on doing something like staying up until midnight, I had decided to look around for the Vermilion City Gym. I at least knew it was in the same area that I had caught Squirtle, so I was fortunate there.

Eventually, I found the gym. It was close to the water and had a good view of the beach and the boats in the harbor. Lights were on inside and I could see the shapes of people moving around from the windows. The thought of Blue having four gym badges popped up in my mind and made me clench a fist in mild frustration. I then looked at the sign next to the entrance. It said that the gym leader was someone called Lieutenant Surge, the Lightning American. I didn't care what an American was, though. I was more interested in seeing the time the gym opened and closed. According to the sign, it was going to be open for a few more hours. Perfect. I looked down at Pikachu and asked, "Are you up to challenging another gym so soon?" Pikachu looked confused at first, as if wondering why I wanted to go challenge the gym leader so soon after coming into town. But then he got a look of determination in his eyes and nodded. Not only did he not mind, he was raring to go.

To be honest, it was probably a bit immature to just rush towards the gym to challenge the leader just because of what Daisy told me about Blue. But for the longest time, since we were kids, we've always competed against one another in some way or another. Most of the time, Blue would win, but I would come close by a margin. I didn't care if he'd become the Champion before me—I could always beat him and take the title for myself if need be. What I cared about was trailing too far behind of my rival. Because when Blue left people behind, it was usually _far_ behind…and my pride made me _not_ want that. As I entered the building, gaining the attention of the trainers inside, I was already thinking of the future: I would get my third gym badge tonight, go party on the S.S. Anne tomorrow morning, get to Saffron City and win my fourth badge by tomorrow afternoon or night, then go to Celadon City for my fifth badge.

If only it had been as easy as I had expected.

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **Unlike in the games, Saffron City can be entered through the gates without offering the guards anything. Red just chooses not to at this point.**

 **In the Red and Blue versions, there is a trainer with a Squirtle on Route 6, but in Yellow version, he has a Weepinbell instead. In the remakes, he's named Ricky.**

 **In Yellow version, the player is given a Squirtle by an NPC that's basically Officer Jenny from the anime. In the game, you can only get Squirtle if you've beaten Lieutenant Surge.**

 **Weepinbell learns Cut via HM. Squirtle learns Bubble Beam via TM.**

 **Psyduck can be found on Route 6 in Yellow version for Gen 1.**


	8. Chapter 8 - Aboard the SS Anne

_Disclaimer : __Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Only this fic._

 _Chapter summary : When Red challenges the Vermilion Gym with no preparation, it leads to Pikachu having a crushing defeat by his evolved form: a Raichu. The loss makes him feel like he's weak and worthless until he evolves, but maybe some time on the S.S. Anne will help him regain his confidence?_

 **X-X-X**

I _really_ don't know why Red wanted to challenge the gym so soon. We'd only been to two other gyms, but our method for taking on those was the same: take a whole day to train and prepare before challenging the gym. But I guess if we were doing this _now_ , it showed how much confidence Red in our chances of winning. And that was just fine with me. This gym, according to Red, specialized in Electric type Pokémon. Since he didn't have any Pokémon with moves that were effective against that type and two who were weak to it, Red said he was going to rely on me, Bulbasaur and Charmander to get through. Another chance for me to shine.

This gym, though, was different from the last two. We couldn't just go and challenge the gym leader. We—well, _Red_ had to solve a puzzle involving switches and many, many trash cans. He had to do it to power down an electrified gate that blocked the way to the gym leader. There were also trainers in the gym who would give Red tips if we beat them in a battle—which we did. It might've taken a while, but we were able to stop the electricity and enter through the doors leading to the back room. Now we were able to meet the gym leader.

"What do you think you're doing here so late at night, kid? Ain't it past your bedtime?" The man asked, arching an eyebrow. He was very tall and about as muscly as a Machop, with short hair as yellow as my fur and piercing blue eyes. I felt Red stiffen from my place on his shoulder, and I understand why. This man was actually pretty intimidating-looking.

Red cleared his throat. "I'm Red Ketchum, and I'm here to challenge you for my third gym badge."

The blonde man stared hard at us before laughing. "Hahahaha! Are you actually serious?" He pointed a finger at us while smirking. "The name's Surge, boy. _Lieutenant_ Surge. My Pokémon and I haven't just fought in mere Pokémon battles. We've fought in the _war_! And in the end, a Pokémon battle is just like a war! My Pokémon saved me by zapping my enemies, and they'll do the same to _your_ Pokémon! Do you think you belong on the battlefield? Answer me when I'm talking to you, boy!"

Red stiffened once again and spoke, "Y-Yes, I do!"

Lt. Surge's smirk faded as he took out a Poké Ball. "Then prepared to be shocked back into reality!" In a flash of light, his first Pokémon appeared beside him. It…looked kind of like _me_. It was bigger though, and bright orange. It had yellow cheeks, big feet, and a long black tail that ended in a long yellow lightning bolt shape. It jumped forward with a cry and landed in the middle of the battlefield in the center of the room. "I'm in a rotten mood after having my gym vandalized and I wanna get out of here as soon as possible. So I'll tell ya what: if you can knock out my Raichu, I'll give you a Thunder Badge!"

"Really?" Red seemed to relax a bit, but was now confused. I, however, was happy. Only one opponent meant this would be an easy victory!

"Of course, _you_ can only use one Pokémon, too," said Surge. "I'm in a rush, so I'd rather just zap you into submission straight away with the strongest option—for a greenhorn like _you_ , anyway!" My cheer immediately vanished. Oh. Well, still no problem. "So go on! Choose the Pokémon that'll get pummeled by Raichu!"

"Yeah! Come on! Bring it on, soldier!" The Raichu exclaimed as he folded his arms across his chest, frowning all the while.

Red looked down at the floor in thought while I glared at him. Was he seriously thinking of choosing anyone but _me_ to fight? I gave him a little whack in the back of his head with my tail to bring his attention to me. "Oh. I guess _my_ ace would be the best option against _his_ ace."

"You know it!" I proclaimed. Without even waiting for Red's command, I leapt off of his shoulder and ran onto the battlefield.

"Heh! You're using a Pikachu? Isn't that a little unwise?" Surge asked with a smirk that was shared by his Raichu. "Raichu's the evolved form of Pikachu. That means my Raichu can do everything a Pikachu can do, but _stronger_ and _better_." I was shocked! I didn't think I could evolve anymore! Surge gave a short laugh before pointing forward. "Raichu, use Quick Attack!"

"Use Double Team with Quick Attack!" Red exclaimed.

I began to use the same tactic I did in the Cerulean Gym: I ran around, making copies as I did, hoping to confuse the Raichu. The Raichu just stood there, staring forward. After a while, he suddenly dropped on all fours and dashed forward, becoming an orange blur as he ran right into me. The force of his tackle seriously knocked the wind out of me and sent me rolling along the battlefield.

"Mega Punch!" I heard Surge shout.

"Move, Pikachu!" I got back on my feet in time to run out of the way as the Raichu pounced at me. His paw glowed bright white before it punched the floor, causing it to make a deep dent. "Use Quick Attack to get in several blows!" I growled as I began tackling into the Raichu.

"Body Slam!" Surge commanded. I only hit Raichu a couple of times before he jumped up into the air and managed to drop on top of me before I could get out of the way. I squirmed as I struggled to climb out from under the bigger Electric type. "You've got it pinned! Now use Submission to toss that Pikachu up into the air!" Raichu got off of me only to grab hold of me. He started to roll around with me in his paws, slamming me down forcefully on the floor each time he did. It went like that for a while before the Raichu landed on his feet, slammed me down on the floor by my tail, and then tossed me up high into the air. "Now use Mega Punch!"

"Block it with Slam!" Although Red didn't sound all that confident in his command, I recovered in midair despite still reeling from the pain of that Submission. I adjusted myself so I would land tail first, thinking that I really could block Raichu's punch with my tail alone. I looked down in time to see the Raichu smirk as its paw glowed bright white. Seconds before I thought my tail would hit it, the Raichu jumped back, dodging my tail slam, and punched me square in the face, effectively knocking me out.

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 8: Aboard the S.S. Anne~_

"Ah!" I woke up with a start. I was inside of my Poké Ball. I didn't have to pop outside to ask what that meant. I lost. I lost the challenge for Red. I couldn't help but sulk. How pathetic was I to have been able to take down a giant Onix and a psychic Starmie, but not another Electric type Pokémon? And one I would evolve into at that! What made that _Raichu_ so different from those two? Was that Surge guy right? Was Raichu just superior to me?

Looking back on it, I'd always been told similar as a Pichu living in the forest. My parents always said it was okay to confront the Weedle, the Nidoran, the Pidgey, and the Spearow that may harass me, but never the _'bigger ones'_. Never the Beedrill or the Pidgeotto—they were stronger and they could endure my puny electric attacks better than they would a full-grown Pikachu's. But not even a Pikachu should go up against something like a Pidgeot or Fearow, who would probably crush you with their talons or run you through with their big, sharp beaks if your electricity didn't chase them away.

Maybe I needed to evolve and become a Raichu, but…I didn't know _how_. There weren't any Raichu in the forest I lived in, or at least none that I _saw_. Maybe their rarity showed just how strong they were. There were so few of them because only the strongest of Pikachu could become Raichu. I was taught that it was better to be quick and crafty rather than to pick fights. To run instead of battle. All to survive. But when I was imprisoned by Team Rocket, the meaning of survival changed to being strong enough to endure attacks and strong enough to defeat my enemies. I evolved once to become stronger and survive…so what would I need to do to evolve again?

I would do _anything_ to gain the strength to protect Red and the others. I needed it that badly. The thought of strength and evolution was so great that when I finally fell asleep, all I could dream about was being a tiny Pichu being beaten up by several giant Raichu.

 **X-X-X**

The moment I woke up again, I spent the entire time brooding and thinking about how to get stronger than I already was. I wondered if Red knew, or if that Pokédex thing of his did, but I was too ashamed to come out of my ball and face him after my loss. I thought maybe he was ashamed of me, too, until I was sent out of my ball and into the familiar surroundings of a room at the Pokémon Center.

"Good morning!" I heard Horsea exclaim. He was bouncing in front of a bowl of berries.

"Morning," Charmander and Bulbasaur, who were also seated around the bowl, casually greeted me before going back to eating berries.

Before I could ask what was going on, I was pushed from behind towards the bowl. I looked back and saw Red, as apathetic as ever. "Go on, eat up. We're going on the S.S. Anne today. After last night, I think it's pretty much the only thing that will make us feel better for the moment." I stared down at the berries for a few seconds before picking up an Oran and nibbling at it. I didn't feel like I deserved food for my loss, so I wound up eating less than the others. Red really was too nice.

While I was eating, I couldn't help but notice that Squirtle Red bothered to catch yesterday. He was sitting off in the corner of the room, facing a wall. "He's still here, huh?" I muttered. Even with his back turned to me, I could see the berries he was lifting up to his face.

Charmander finished roasting a berry and gave it to Horsea before saying, "He was picking fights with everyone this morning."

"First, he attacked Red when he tried to get to know him a little better," said Bulbasaur. "Then he started picking on Horsea when _he_ tried to be friendly to him. Charmander tried to get him to stop and _he_ got sprayed with water. So _I_ tried to discipline him and…let's just say potions had to be used afterwards."

"I wish you woke up sooner. You could've just zapped him the moment he started to act up…the jerk," Charmander mumbled meekly before he continued eating.

"Aw, I don't think he's so bad! Maybe he just needs time to get along with us!" Horsea exclaimed.

"You're too nice," Charmander and Bulbasaur spoke at the same time.

I sighed and forced myself to continue eating as well.

 **X-X-X**

I'd never seen a boat until we came to Vermilion City, but I could easily say that the S.S. Anne was the biggest boat I'd ever seen when we were close enough—and according to Red, it was filled up with a bunch of people, which meant it was probably as busy as a town or a city. Once we got on, Red began to wander about while I stayed perched on his shoulder, wanting to stay as close to him as possible. We were here for a party, but since we didn't know where it was, Red wound up walking into the wrong room a lot. Sometimes there would be people inside. Some would say rude things and push him out, while others would ask if he was a trainer and challenge him to a battle. I got to see all kinds of Pokémon I'd never seen before, and many that even Red's _Pokédex_ didn't know. At one point, we ran into this lady with a bunch of Pokémon that looked a little like me: things called Plusle and Minun, Dedenne, Pachirisu, Emolga, and to my fear and frustration, a Raichu. Red was able to beat the Raichu easily with Bulbasaur, though, which confused me. Was there something wrong with that lady's Raichu if _Bulbasaur_ could beat it, or was there something wrong with me? The battle with the Raichu lady left me bitter for a while.

I'd lost count of the rooms we'd been in by the time we entered one with a familiar person: that Green girl we met back in Viridian Forest! From the moment we appeared in the doorway, she gasped and turned around to face us with a look of surprise on her face. After a few seconds of just standing there staring at each other, Green spoke, "O-oh! It's you! Um…Red, right?"

"Yeah. Red," Red spoke simply.

The look of surprise left Green's face as she began playing with her hair. "Do you remember _my_ name, then?"

"You're Green."

The brown-haired girl laughed behind her hand as she slipped on her little green backpack. "Right! Have I been invading your thoughts since we met? Keeping you awake at night?"

"Not really."

Red's answer made Green suddenly frown and huff. She then calmed down and pointed at him. "Geez, that's a shiner. You didn't look like the type of boy who'd go around picking fights." She was talking about Red's black eye, which he'd gotten from Squirtle the day before. Although the swelling had gone down, the purplish bruise easily stuck out on his very pale skin.

"I had an accident," was all Red would say.

Green's eyes then glinted in a shady-seeming way before she said, "I'm surprised a kid like you has the money to get on a swanky ship like this! Did you sneak on? C'mon, you can tell me!"

"Actually, my ticket was a reward for helping someone. They didn't wanna go to the party."

"The party? You mean the one on the third floor, on the upper deck?"

"Is _that_ where it is? I guess I should find my way up there, then. Nice seeing you again," Red said as he turned to go back out into the hall.

Green grabbed him and forced him to turn around to see her smirking face. "Hey, I've got an idea. I've got time to kill, so why don't you show me your Pokémon?"

"…Why?"

"Because I wanna see if you've caught anything new! _Duh_." Green then began to pout cutely, her lips quivering and eyes shining brightly. "Pretty please, won't you show me your Pokémon, Red?" Red looked confused for a few seconds before he did as Green asked. He walked into the room, closed the door behind him, and sent out Charmander, Bulbasaur, Horsea and Squirtle, the latter of whom looked annoyed. But despite Squirtle's attitude, Green squealed in a way that reminded me of the Zubat in the caves of Mt. Moon. "EEEEEEEE! They're so _adorable_! Although…" She squinted her eyes before reaching into her bag and taking out a book with pictures of Pokémon on it. She leafed through the book as she said, "Your Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle don't look a _thing_ like the ones in the book."

"Pokémon can vary in appearance the way humans can, you know," Red quickly tried to cover for his Pokémon.

"I guess. But even if they looked normal, they wouldn't be _halfway_ as cute as that Horsea!" Green exclaimed with a smile. Horsea wound up blushing and giggling from her compliment, but he soon stopped with Green's next words: "I want it."

"What?" Red and I asked at the same time.

"I want your Horsea."

I sighed and glared at her. "Are you gonna try and take Red's Pokémon by force _again_?" Because I still hadn't forgiven her for trying to steal _me_!

"If you want to battle again—" Red began.

"Oh, no, no, _no_! I don't have time for battling. How about we make a trade instead? I'd be willing to trade you my Nidorina so your Nidoran could have a girlfriend!" Green said with a wink.

Red flinched and looked down at the floor. "My Nidorino died some time ago." He wasn't crying as he said that, but he sounded like he was straining to keep his voice monotone.

Green looked like she was in a panic. "O-oh, my gosh! Really?! What happened?! Actually, wait, no. D-don't tell me! I don't wanna know!" She exclaimed as she waved her arms frantically in the air. They both fell silent, and in seconds, the girl ran forward and hugged Red so tightly that I fell off of his shoulder. "You poor thing! How awful for you to have to go through such a thing!" Green cried as she shook Red and turned around with him until she was the one standing in front of the door. "Keep your Horsea! I don't want to tear another Pokémon from you before its time!"

"Um…thank you," Red spoke, sounding surprised from the sudden contact.

Green stepped back, holding a hand behind her back. "I should get going now. But maybe we'll meet again, Red. Ciao!" She blew him a kiss, but it got no reaction from Red. With a huff, she left the room, slamming the door behind her.

"…Well. That was interesting," said Red as picked me up and placed me back on his shoulder. "At least she was more understanding than she was the last time." Yeah, and all it took was saying that Nidorino died. "Anyway, we know where the party is now. All we've got to do is go up until we're outside again."

 **X-X-X**

So we went up some stairs, but as Red rounded a corner, he bumped into someone. "Hey! Watch where you're go—! _Red_?!" That person turned out to be Blue. I could feel my dislike rising to the surface already as he said, "What's someone like _you_ doing on a fancy boat like _this_?! Did you _sneak on_ like a stowaway? Is that how you got that black eye?" Blue poked Red's black eye and smirked. "I didn't know you were a little deviant."

Red frowned and stared at Blue in silence. After a few seconds, and when Blue was close to fuming, my trainer answered, "Someone gave me a ticket to the party onboard, so I decided to go."

"Charity, huh? Well, that's how I got _my_ ticket: one of Gramps's aides came to me with a ticket. Gramps got invited to the party, but said he was busy with research. So he thought _I'd_ enjoy it."

"That was nice of him." Yeah, nice of him to expose us to _this_ nuisance.

"Hey, lemme tell ya something: I've already got _four_ badges! I beat the Vermilion City Gym just yesterday!" _Four_?! We don't even have _three_ badges and this little jerk's got _four_ of them!

"…I know. I heard from Daisy." Oh. At least I know why we rushed into the gym the other night: Red wanted to catch up to Blue as quick as possible. I understand: I wouldn't want to trail behind of a guy like that.

"You did, huh? Well, I've also caught 40 different kinds of Pokémon already."

Red stiffened again. " _Forty_? Why catch so many?"

"Duh! I'm gonna be the Champion, so I need to find the right Pokémon for a team that can stand up to anything! Right now, though, I'm only training four." Blue put his hands on his hips and leaned in closer to Red. "So, _Red_ , what have _you_ accomplished since we last met in Cerulean City?" Red opened his mouth to answer, but the words never left his mouth, because Blue spoke again, "Of course, the best way to see how another trainer's improved is with a battle. I mean, you've owed me one since Pewter City.

Red looked thoughtful for a short while before nodding. "Sure. I accept your challenge."

"Great! We'll battle right here in the hall!" Blue exclaimed as he took out a Poké Ball.

"Isn't that unsafe?

"Just about everybody's either in their cabins or up on the deck. Nobody's gonna be coming, so stop making excuses!"

 **X-X-X**

Seconds later, Red was standing at one end of the hall and Blue was standing at the other. "Alright! So you understand that we're going until one of us is out of Pokémon that can battle?" Blue asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay! Then to start off, I choose Pidgeotto! Go!" In a flash of light, a Pidgeotto appeared in midair a few feet in front of Blue, cawing and flapping its wings. "You like? I caught this Pidgeotto in Viridian Forest—the only one I saw there among all the Pidgey, a rare sight! He's like a symbol of my good luck!" I couldn't care less what that bird represented to Blue. I felt like this was another chance to redeem myself, if only a tiny bit. But while I thought Red would choose the most effective Pokémon to fight— _me_ , he had someone else in mind. In a flash of light, my trainer sent out Horsea. "A _Horsea_? I'm surprised you were able to get that thing to stand properly on land! Just watch my Pidgeotto knock it down with Quick Attack!" The bird Pokémon cawed circling above Horsea and then swooping down to tackle into him, making him fall over. "Do it again!"

"Make a twister around yourself!" Red commanded. Horsea jumped back onto his tail, cried out and a small twister formed around him. When the Pidgeotto flew into the twister, it was sent flying back, but caught itself in midair.

Blue looked surprised for a few seconds before he seemed impressed. "Pretty interesting, Red. I've never seen a move like _that_ before!" The other boy smirked. "It'll be fun to tear down your little defense! Pidgeotto, counter that twister by making one of your own with Gust!" The Pidgeotto backed off and began flapping it wings quickly. Almost immediately, a powerful gust of wind began to be blown in our direction. Then, a second twister formed in front of Blue's Pidgeotto, looking bigger than Horsea's. Pidgeotto's twister was then pushed forward into Horsea's. The two twisters pushed back against each other until Horsea's dispersed and he was sucked up into Pidgeotto's twister, tossed about inside of it until he hit the ceiling and it dispersed. "Nice! Now use Quick Attack again!" Blue exclaimed.

"Use Ink Shot when it's close!" Red shouted.

Pidgeotto cawed and flew up towards Horsea as he was falling from the ceiling. Luckily for Horsea, he was falling in a way that allowed him to see the blur of his oncoming target. Horsea spat out a burst of hardened ink into Pidgeotto's face seconds before the bird rammed into him. Pidgeotto landed on the floor to try and brush the ink out of its eyes while Horsea dropped onto the floor.

"Horsea! Can you keep going?" Red called out.

"C'mon, get up! Don't let this bird beat you!" I shouted. Horsea twitched for a few seconds before finding it in him to bounce back onto his tail, although the way he was wobbling unsteadily said he was close to fainting. Still, I cheered for him, "Way to go! You can still do it!"

"That's an impressive Horsea ya got there! Lots of improvised attacks, too," Blue said with a smirk. "Too bad it's about to be put out of its misery. Pidgeotto, use Quick Attack!"

"Take aim and use Ink Shot!

Pidgeotto, after wasting a few more seconds wiping the ink out of its eyes. At the same time, Horsea was trying to keep his balance. Once they were both finished, the bird quickly darted towards the small Water type, just as he fired another ink bullet. The ink hit the Pidgeotto in the face once more, but it still wound up tackling into Horsea. They both fell down, not even twitching.

"I think…they both knocked each other out," said Red.

"What?! No way! My Pidgeotto's stronger than a dinky Horsea!" Blue shouted. He huffed and returned his unconscious Pokémon to its ball. "Whatever. At least we've learned a new tactic in the process."

Red returned Horsea to his ball with a smile. "You did great. I'm really proud of you." His smile quickly faded and he regained his usual apathetic expression.

"Okay! Now I'm gonna be a bit more serious!" Blue exclaimed as he got out another ball. "Go, Raticate!" In a flash of light, another familiar Pokémon appeared on Blue's side of the _'battlefield'_. Raticate had always been bit intimidating to me as a Pichu because they always looked like they were glaring at everything, and of course, they liked to use their big, long teeth to chew and bite anything. Take those traits away, though, and it was just an oversized rat. "Sure hope your next choice is a Rock or Ghost type, because my Raticate'll bite through whatever other type there is like a toothpick!" Red remained silent as he adjusted his hat and began to look thoughtful. As much as I didn't want to be on the receiving end of a Raticate's fangs, I was hoping he would call on me next. But my heart sank as Red took out another Poké Ball and sent out Charmander. My mood picked up a bit when Blue sputtered at the sight of the Fire type. "A Char… _Charmander_?! How did _you_ get a _Charmander_?!"

"I caught him," Red answered simply and honestly.

"In the _wild_?! I don't believe you!" The other boy shouted. He took a breath and sighed before running a hand through his hair. "Whatever. My Raticate will knock it out in an instant!" Raticate, get in close with Quick Attack and then bite it!" Blue commanded.

"Ember, Charmander!" Red called.

As the Raticate ran towards Charmander, the Fire type spat out tiny embers to stop it in its tracks. However, the Raticate kept dodging the embers that were fired at it. The big rat pounced Charmander once it was close enough and bit down into his body. Charmander gave a terrible screech of pain as he struggled in its hold.

"Use the flame on your tail to burn it!" Red commanded.

Charmander did as he was told and wagged his tail to brush the flame at its tip against Raticate's tail. This was enough to make the Raticate let him go to cry out in pain. "Now use Ember and force it off!" Charmander spat some embers into the bigger Pokémon's face, burning it further, and then managed to shove the Raticate off of him. Charmander got back onto his feet, holding onto the part of his torso that Raticate had bitten.

"See? Charmander or not, my Raticate's just _too_ strong!" Blue boasted. "Now go in for the finisher! Use Hyper Fang!"

"Charmander, Dragon Rage!"

As the Raticate pounced at Charmander, he breathed out blue flames that engulfed the rat Pokémon. It cried out in pain and only succeeded in pushing Charmander over before dropping down on the floor and rolling away from him. Eventually, the Raticate stopped and got back onto its feet, looking even more upset than it would normally. On the ground, Charmander cried out in pain from his injury. His crying quickly became roaring and he was suddenly engulfed in a bright white light. I recognized what was going on as Charmander's figure, now only a shadow within the light, began to change shape. When the light faded, he'd taken on a new form. He had _evolved_. He was bigger, had a horn on the back of his head, and was covered in thick-looking red scales. The flame at the tip of his tail was now larger and burning fiercely.

"Wow…! Charmeleon…!" Red spoke in awe as he took out his Pokédex to check the new Pokémon.

"Evolving won't save you! Raticate, Hyper Fang!" Blue exclaimed.

Red snapped the Pokédex shut. "Charmeleon, Leer!" Charmeleon roared as his eyes glowed bright red for a brief moment. He gave the approaching Raticate an intimidating glare that was intense enough to make it stop in its tracks, and even step back from fear. "Now use Scratch!" Charmeleon jumped onto the Raticate, pinned it to the floor, and then began to slash at it brutally with his new claws. After a few seconds, it was starting to seem like too much. "Charmeleon, that's enough." Charmeleon looked back at Red and growled before returning to pummeling Raticate. As the Fire type continued scratching away at what I assumed was an unconscious Pokémon, Red pointed his Poké Ball at him and returned him inside. "What is _wrong_ with you? Just calm down," he whispered to the ball.

"Hmph! Luck, that's all it was. You're lucky that Charmander of yours evolved. Otherwise, I would've won," said Blue as he returned his unconscious Raticate into its ball. "My next Pokémon'll throw you for a loop!" Taking out another ball—this one blue with red stripes on it—Blue sent out his next Pokémon. Unlike the last two, I had never seen it before. It was bright yellow, though part of its upper body was dark brown. It had a big tail, a pair of hanging whiskers that looked like a mustache on a human, and it was holding a spoon in its hand. "Check it out! I managed to catch an Abra before it slipped away, and I was able to train it up into a Kadabra! Just my luck, right?"

Red mumbled things to himself, "A Psychic type? All I have left are Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Pikachu. But I… Mm. I guess I have no choice." My expression brightened. Once again, I thought he was talking about me, but he dashed my hopes once more when he took out a Poké Ball. And of all of us, he sent out that Squirtle!

"Hm? You trying to catch a collection of freaky-looking starter Pokémon, Red? Seriously, of all the dumb luck…" Blue muttered before he started to smirk again. "Not that its rarity is gonna do any good against my Kadabra's psychic attacks!"

"I have faith in Squirtle." The same Squirtle who just turned around to stick his tongue out at Red. He should've just chosen me.

"You can have faith that he'll be knocked out faster than you can blink! Kadabra, use Confusion!"

"Squirtle, use Bubble Beam!" But instead of doing that, Squirtle pulled his head and limbs into his shell. "Squirtle! What're you doing?!" He's being a jerk, that's what he's doing.

Kadabra's eyes began to glow bright purple while Squirtle…hid in his shell. Squirtle was hit by an unseen force, the only way of noticing it being the sound it made upon hitting his shell.

"Got a disrespectful Pokémon, huh? They say if a Pokémon doesn't obey its trainer, it's sign of how _unskilled_ they are," Blue spoke. "Pretty sloppy, Red!"

Red said nothing to his rival and focused his attention on Squirtle. "Come on, Squirtle! Even if you don't like _me_ that much yet, I can tell you don't like to lose! So get up and fight!" Squirtle got out of his shell, but I don't think it was for Red's sake. No, he did it to tease Blue's Kadabra. The Water type turned around to shake his tail tauntingly at the Psychic Pokémon, who responded by…looking as apathetic as Red.

Blue had bent over with laughter now. "Was that…a _pep talk_?! Coming for the poster boy of _anti-pep_?! Hahaha!" I glared at the other boy. When he finally shut up, he had that stupid smirk on his face. "Don't worry, Red! My Kadabra can make him stop hiding! Use Disable!"

Blue's Kadabra held up its spoon as its eyes glowed bright yellow. Squirtle laughed before trying to pull his head and limbs back into his shell, only to fail. He continued to try and withdraw into his shell, eventually crying out in frustration.

"Kadabra, use Confusion!" Kadabra's eyes glowed bright purple once more before Squirtle was pushed back by something. It still didn't seem to harm him much physically, but the way he held onto his head suggested that Kadabra was causing him a different kind of pain. "Keep it up!"

"Squirtle, use Bubble Beam!" Red exclaimed. Squirtle, still taking the force of Kadabra's psychic attacks, took a deep breath and sprayed out a streamed of foam and bubbles at the Kadabra while it was attacking. The moment his Bubble Beam hit the Kadabra and covered it in bubbles, Squirtle was forced back by its psychic power, but remained standing. "Yes! Way to go, Squirtle!" Squirtle snorted and looked back at Red to stick his tongue out at him. "Now use Bite!" Snorting once again, the irritated Water type lowered his head and ran towards Blue's Kadabra.

"Oh~! Going for Skull Bash, huh? Kadabra, Teleport!" Blue commanded.

Just as Squirtle jumped headfirst at the Kadabra, it glowed bright white and suddenly vanished. Squirtle wound up falling onto the floor with a heavy-sounding thud. Kadabra then reappeared a few feet behind of Squirtle just as he started to get up. As soon as Squirtle had turned around, he lowered his head and went for another Skull Bash, but the same thing happened. This continued to happen even as Red tried to tell him stop. Eventually, Squirtle wound up tiring himself out and just laid there on the floor, panting.

"There's a difference between persistence and stupidity!" I finally shouted loudly, making Red flinch since I was so close to his ear.

"Shut up, ya stupid electric rat!" Squirtle snapped at me. I think this was the first time he'd spoken to me—or even spoken _at all_. "An Electric type that can't beat another Electric type ain't allowed to criticize!"

"What'd you say to me?! You better hope that Kadabra knocks you out before _I_ do!"

"Yeah, right! I could beat you one-on-one in a fair fight without you relying on _shocking_ everything!"

"THEN IT'S NOT A FAIR FIGHT, IDIOT!"

"B-both of you, calm down. And please stop yelling," Red said as he began rubbing his forehead.

"This is more like a wild Pokémon battle than a fight with a trainer. Did you just catch this thing or what?" Blue asked, sounding disappointed. Red was silent as Squirtle turned around to face Kadabra one more time. "Enough playing around, Kadabra! Use Confusion!"

"While it's attacking, use Bubble Beam!" Red exclaimed.

I wasn't sure if Squirtle was now obeying Red or just decided to do that attack of his own accord, but he took a deep breath and sprayed foam and bubbles at the Kadabra while its eyes glowed bright purple. Its eyes suddenly stopped glowing, though, and it attempted to sidestep the attack, but it couldn't move in time and wound up falling over.

"I think I get it," Red mumbled. "Teleport and Confusion are both attacks that require Kadabra to focus. It can't do both at the same time, so it can't teleport to dodge while it's using its power to attack with Confusion. What's more, Squirtle's Bubble Beam has a chance of slowing down those it hits, so it seems to have gotten slow enough to the point of Squirtle being able to attack it before its attacks hit him."

Blue snorted. "Feel proud for comprehending that?"

"Yes."

"Well, just because your Squirtle's faster and it's been able to endure Kadabra's attacks, that doesn't mean it's going to win."

"Squirtle, use Bite while Kadabra's down." Maybe the jerk realized Red was helpful, which was why he bothered to run towards the Psychic type with his teeth bared.

"Kadabra, Teleport now!"

Kadabra's body slowly got a white glow as Squirtle got closer. The Water type jumped on top of the Psychic type and took a bite out of its shoulder. It screamed out in pain and stopped glowing. In fact, it stopped moving period.

"Heh-heh! In your face, ya psycho-weirdo!" Squirtle exclaimed before Blue returned his Pokémon into its ball.

"Squirtle! Way to go!" Red complimented the Water type. Just like in all the other battles we'd been in before, the turtle Pokémon stared at him in confusion and then huffed in annoyance before being returned to his ball.

"How on earth…?" Blue sounded annoyed. Even the smirk he had on his face when he looked at Red seemed forced. "Well, well! Maybe you're worthy of being my rival after all, Red!"

"You might have more badges than I do at the moment, but I have no intentions of falling behind as a trainer," said Red as he narrowed his eyes.

"Good! Because I've got no intention of slowing down!" Blue exclaimed as he took out another ball. "This is my last Pokémon. I'm sure you know what it is."

"Yeah. Pikachu, it's time." I looked at Red in surprise. Was I being saved for this? I was still the ace? That made me feel so relieved. I thought maybe Red thought I was too weak to battle his rival. I jumped off of Red's shoulder and landed on the floor, raring to go and prove my strength.

"It's time to see who started with the better Pokémon! Go, Eevee!" In a flash of light, Blue sent out a small, brown, and furry Pokémon called Eevee. I only recognized it because we ran into a few people onboard who owned ones of their own.

"Blue?" Eevee turned around to look at his trainer. "BLUUUUUEEEE!" The Eevee ran over to Blue and jumped him, pushing him down to the floor in the process. "Blue! Blue! Let's play, Blue!" After that, Blue was struggling to pry his adoring Pokémon off of him. Though why _anyone_ would adore him was beyond me.

"Eevee seems...very playful," Red commented after Blue finally managed to get Eevee off of him and shooed him back over to me.

"D-don't be fooled! He's a real brawler when he's in a fight!" His rival snapped. "Show 'em your Growl, Eevee!"

Eevee growled at me, baring his teeth. I wasn't intimidated by it, though. In fact, it only compelled me into thinking that he wasn't so tough after all and that I didn't need to put in much effort to beat him.

"Pikachu, use Tail Whip to distract it!" I did as Red commanded. I turned around and began to wag my tail back and forth. Eevee stopped growling and approached me to start batting at my tail like it was some sort of toy. Now he _really_ didn't seem so tough. Maybe this fight would be easier to win than I thought.

"Tackle, Eevee!

"Dodge with Quick Attack and strike from behind!"

I sped out of the way before Eevee could headbutt me from behind, then I went behind him and tackled him in the back. The Eevee didn't falter when he was hit by my attack. Instead, he took that as the moment to kick me with his hind feet. It hurt more than I thought, and I wound up jumping back to avoid getting another blow.

"Pikachu, Thunder Wave!" I charged electricity before zapping the smaller Pokémon just enough to paralyze him. I couldn't help smirking when his movements got a bit slower. I was going to win this. I could _feel_ it! "Now, Thunder Shock!"

"Bite, Eevee!"

I charged up electricity as Blue's Eevee ran towards me. Despite being slowed by paralysis, my opponent was able to jump on top of me and push me down. Eevee took a bite out of my arm and in response, I unleashed my pent up electricity to shock him. Eevee jumped off of me and stepped away, still looking ready to fight despite looking so banged up. He was definitely tougher than he looked. But I was sure I could knock him out with a few more blows.

"Time to finish 'em off, Eevee! Use Tackle!" Blue exclaimed.

"Pikachu, use Slam!" said Red.

At our trainers' orders, Eevee and I reared back in preparation and dashed towards each other. I braced myself for the oncoming blow, determined to be the one left standing. When Eevee was close enough, he rammed his head against mine. I held up against the attack, but just barely. Dealing with the pain, I spun around to strike the smaller Pokémon with my tail. Eevee tried to dodge, but he suddenly stiffened and froze in place, paralyzed. My tail struck him in the face, knocking him aside and into a wall. Eevee fell to the floor and didn't look like he was getting up. I felt proud…and beat up. For a tiny little guy, he sure did hit hard! I refused to collapse from exhaustion, though, and kept up a brave face as Blue returned Eevee into his ball.

"Hmph! At least you're raising your Pokémon. But that was just luck, you know?" Blue asked as he approached Red, completely ignoring me.

"I know your Eevee knows Dig," said Red. "But you probably didn't use it since we were on the second floor of a boat."

The blue-clad boy smirked. "So you realize that I was just taking it easy on you and I would've won if I had Eevee go all out."

"…No. Pikachu would still win even if we were battling outside." Hearing Red say that made me happy, and at the same time, it just put more pressure on me. He had so much faith in me that I couldn't standing letting him down again.

"Heh! Keep dreamin'! Smell ya later!" Blue said goodbye in his own weird way, saluting Red before he went downstairs.

Red approached me, crouched down, and gave me a small smile. He stroked my back and scratched my ears, mumbling about how proud he was of me. "…Sorry if this is a late apology, but…I'm sorry for what happened last night." I looked up at him confusion but I realized he was talking about what happened with Surge. "We didn't lose because you were weak. We lost because I rushed in without a plan or any training. It's just that...I can't _stand_ the thought of being left in the dust by Blue." Red fell silent for a few seconds and stared down at the ground. "We used to be close friends. He was always #1 and I was #2. I can't bear trailing too far behind of Blue, because it feels like he'd leave me in his dust and all alone. That sounds stupid, doesn't it?"

"It does. _Very_ stupid," I spoke flatly as I nodded my headed.

"But that's what my relationship with Blue's always been. And maybe that sometimes makes me a bit…competitive. Competition is good…if you don't let it go to your head." Red's face regained its usual apathetic expression as he looked back at me. "Anyway, I'll try not to get obsessed with keeping up with Blue. Even if he becomes the Indigo League Champion before me, I can always beat him afterwards. But for now, let's train to beat Lt. Surge. Would you be…up to challenging him again?"

"But…I need to evolve again if I wanna beat that Raichu," I told him with a pout, despite knowing he didn't know what I said.

"I'm sure it was damaging to your confidence to get beaten up by his Raichu. The easy way out would be finding a Thunder Stone and using that to make _you_ evolve into a Raichu. But _I_ think that if we actually put in the time to train, we could win." Red picked me up and held me out in front of me as he stood up. "Do you agree with me, Pikachu?"

A part of me refused to believe that until it actually happened before my eyes. But most of me had been convinced that I could win without having to become a Raichu. If I could beat my fully evolved form, I, I think I'd never have to evolve to be able to protect Red. If not, I _swear_ I won't let Red rest until he finds a Thunder Stone to fix this problem.

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **In all of the games featuring the Vermilion Gym (except for the Gen 2 games), players have to solve a switch puzzle in order to reach Lt. Surge. It's different for the sake of the story in that Red has to defeat trainers and gather codes from trash cans in order to power down a set of electrified doors.**

 **In Yellow version, Raichu is the only Pokémon Surge uses as a reference to the anime, where Ash only needed to beat his Raichu to get the Thunder Badge.**

 **Raichu learns Mega Punch, Body Slam, and Submission via TM. Pidgeotto, as well as Pidgey and Pidgeot, learn Twister by level up from Gen IV onward. Raticate first learns Bite via breeding from Gen 2 onward, and learns it via level up starting from Gen 4. Eevee can't learn Dig via TM until Gen 3.**

 **Submission's description make it sound like a diving tackle, but in the anime, it's often shown as a rolling attack that involves holding onto the enemy—probably because its Japanese name translates into "Hell Wheel".**


	9. Chapter 9 - A Lightning American

**Ordinarily, I try to post two chapters of this story at a time to make it worth the wait, but real life affairs can take up a lot of personal time and drain me of the will to do anything but sleep. Since I'm going away for over a week to spend time with my family back home, and there's no way of connecting to the Internet up there even by phone, I feel like I should post at least the one chapter I managed to finish before leaving as a gift to those of you who've stuck around this long and are still reading this story.**

 **Seriously, though. I'm grateful to those of you who've read this story, even if you only fav and follow and don't review. The fact that people actually pay attention to the things I write makes me happy. I hope the New Year will be good for all of us!**

 _Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Just this story!_

 _Chapter Summary: It's time for a rematch! Red challenges Lt. Surge of the Vermillion Gym yet again, but will his team come out triumphant this time?_

 **X-X-X**

Charmander has evolved into Charmeleon. Those scales of his have become sturdier and harder. They still feel warm, though. When I contacted Professor Oak about taking him back, I mentioned that he evolved. He asked me to keep note of what types seemed effective against him in battles and which weren't. Water and Grass type attacks don't really hurt him much—though he still doesn't like water. Electric type moves aren't very effective against him, either. It might be because of his scales, but I'm not sure. His personality has also changed a bit: as a Charmander, he was meek, but Charmeleon is more…quiet than anything. The most worrisome part is when he gets out of control and begins to go on a rampage. Since the battle against Blue's Raticate, he's lost control four times. I found myself apologizing to three trainers about how brutally he attacked their Pokémon even when they could no longer fight back, and after one gruesome instance where I had to bury a wild Mankey he killed, I decided to simply pull him out if I saw he was about to lose it. The Pokédex said that a Charmeleon was a merciless Pokémon, but I didn't think he'd change so much. Nidorino still seemed as nice as when he was a Nidoran. He learned Rage at some point, but considering that it's a move that builds strength with anger, I don't think I'll be having him use it. I don't want anyone else to end up like that Mankey.

I told the professor about Bulbasaur. He's interested in how he has more poisonous qualities than the typical Bulbasaur. He believes that the reason why he doesn't know moves like Leech Seed and Sleep Powder is because of the poison in his bulb affecting the process of creating such things—seeds and powders and such. But since he could use Vine Whip, the professor believed he was capable of using Grass type moves that relied on his bulb's exterior, like Razor Leaf. Professor Oak showed an interest in studying him, and I promised to do so after beating Lt. Surge and getting a gym badge. The closest gyms to Vermilion City are said to specialize in Grass and Psychic type Pokémon, which he wouldn't be very good against. I wonder if he'll evolve soon, or if ever. A few times, I thought I saw him glowing the way Nidoran and Charmander did when they evolved, but then he suddenly stopped. Maybe it's my eyes playing tricks on me. Or maybe he doesn't want to evolve because of Charmeleon's drastic change.

I also told the professor about Horsea and Squirtle. Although Horsea was still a normal Horsea in terms of type, he was intrigued by the fact that he could make twisters. He told me that Seadra, Horsea's evolution, have been seen at the center of whirlpools, but they haven't been seen _making_ a whirlpool. I decided to send Horsea over to him before challenging Surge, since I wouldn't be able to use him for the upcoming gym battle. Still, I trained him along with the rest of the team, taught him how to do Bubble Beam, and gave him the chance to swim in the ocean alongside of wild Horsea before transferring him.

Although I told the professor about Squirtle, I refused to send him over. Although I was interested in learning what was going on with his shell, I wanted our relationship to get better. That way, he wouldn't be too upset when I sent him to the professor. He was already a biter, and I didn't want poor Professor Oak to endure his wrath. But I promised to keep notes on him until then, like how he showed no weakness to Grass type attacks, how Psychic type attacks weren't very effective against him, and how Fighting and Ground type attacks seemed to be painful for him to endure. Aside from that, Squirtle doesn't seem quite as hostile towards me as he was before. He doesn't always listen to my commands, but he doesn't bite me either.

Finally, there's Pikachu. After regaining his confidence, I trained him hard for the sake of using him to take down Lt. Surge's Raichu. We focused on his movement speed and attack speed. He wouldn't be able to hit as hard as a Raichu, but being faster might help. He also learned Thunderbolt and Swift. I told the professor that I hadn't really made Pikachu use his… _ability_ as of late because I was worried about his health. I thought maybe he'd be disappointed, considering the reason why I was given Pikachu was to observe that trait, but instead, he noted how attached I'd become to Pikachu, and how he wished Blue showed as much concern for _his_ Pokémon.

He told me how Blue's Raticate was injured recently, and that he removed it from his main team entirely because it would take a long time for it to get back into fighting shape. It was only spared being put in a PC storage box for forever because of Professor Oak. He offered to raise it on the ranch near his lab in Pallet Town.

After writing all that down in my journal, I closed it. If I didn't stop, I'd wind up writing how I thought it was all _my_ fault. That the reason for Blue's Raticate being injured was _my_ Charmeleon. And then I'd feel even worse. After putting the journal back into my bag, I finally turned off the light and laid down in bed next to Pikachu, who'd fallen asleep long ago. But I couldn't just go to sleep. Instead, I stared up at the ceiling and tried to think up battle strategies for tomorrow, just so the feeling of guilt wouldn't plague me. I did that until my body couldn't resist going to sleep on its own.

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 9: The Lightning American!~_

Stepping into the Vermilion Gym that early morning, I held my breath. I wasn't nervous, just anxious and eager to challenge Surge again. But when I tried to walk towards his room, I was stopped by an old man dressed in a fancy suit. I remember him as one of the trainers who fought to keep me from gathering parts of the code to Surge's room. "Hold it right there, son! Nobody can just go to see the lieutenant!"

"I know. I have the code to his room," I told the old man.

"What?! Hm, actually, now that I get a closer look at you, I recall you coming here once before," the old man said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Unfortunately, son, Lt. Surge is infamous for his paranoia. He changes the code to his electrified door three times a day! A code from any other day would be useless."

"Oh." I should've figured it wouldn't be as easy as just going right up to him.

"If you want to gain the code, you'll have to look for half of the code's numbers in the trash cans scattered in the gym and get the other half by beating two of the gym trainers here."

"Really? But…it was different when I last challenged the gym."

The old man chuckled. "Never let it be said that the Lieutenant always chooses the same strategy twice. Now then!" He adjusted his hat before taking out a Poké Ball. "Shall we have a battle?" I only nodded in agreement. "Splendid! Then let's begin!"

We took our places several feet away from each other. I'd already decided to use Bulbasaur for the advantage of his resistance to Electric type attacks, and the old man sent out a Magnemite. The Magnemite screeched as it floated in midair. Although Bulbasaur was its opponent, its eye fell on Pikachu, who was perched on my shoulder. I felt Pikachu shudder—probably at the memory of being touched by the last Magnemite he fought, and the way it clung to him because of all the electricity he generated. But the Magnemite's attention was changed when its trainer shouted out his first command.

"Magnemite, confuse it with Double Team!" Suddenly, copies of the Magnemite surrounded Bulbasaur. Then the many Magnemite began to circle Bulbasaur from above. "Now, Take Down!"

"Stop it with Vine Whip!" I exclaimed. Bulbasaur's vines shot up into the air, attacking two enemies at a time only for them to disappear when his vines made contact. But he wasn't able to find the original quickly enough, and the Magnemite and its copies tackled into him. "Spray them all with Acid!" Bulabsaur's bulb shuddered before spraying acid onto the remaining Magnemite. The copies faded and the original remained floating behind him. "Now grab it with your vines and slam it down!"

"Sonic Boom!" The old man exclaimed just as Bulbasaur's vines wrapped around Magnemite's round body. Its magnet-shaped appendages vibrated before unleashing a small barrage of shockwaves. They struck Bulbasaur and pushed him back a bit, but he didn't let go of the Magnet Pokémon. As he was being pushed back, Bulbasaur swung the Magnemite down behind him, the impact cracking the floor's paneling. "Use Thunder Shock!" Electricity crackled around the Magnet Pokémon before it traveled down Bulbasaur's vines and shocked him. It didn't exactly do much damage, though.

"Slam it again!" I called out. Bulbasaur made to lift the Magnemite up into the air once again, but he suddenly stopped. His body twitched along with his vines as electricity crackled around his body. "It actually managed to paralyze him," I mumbled.

Paralyzed, the grip of Bulbasaur's vines relaxed and the Magnemite was able to slip out of their grasp. "Excellent, Magnemite! Now use Sonic Boom!" Both of Magnemite's appendage's vibrated before releasing a small barrage of shockwaves. Unable to move, Bulbasaur was forced to take the attack, the last wave having enough force to bowl the Seed Pokémon over. "Now finish it up with Take Down from above!" The Magnet Pokémon hovered high above Bulbasaur for a few seconds before darting down.

"Bulbasaur, blind it!" Bulbasaur snapped out of his paralysis in time to spray acid up into the oncoming Magnemite's eye, blinding it and stopping it in its tracks. "Now grab it and throw it down!" The Seed Pokémon's vines quickly shot up, wrapped around the Magnemite, and slammed it down on the floor. When the Electric type began to stir, Bulbasaur raised it up into the air and slammed it onto the floor a few more times, enduring a few more Thunder Shocks as commanded by its trainer before one final slam knocked it out cold.

The old man took off his hat and held it over his chest. "You fought bravely, Magnemite," he spoke solemnly before returning his unconscious Magnemite into its ball. The man approached me. "Very good show! Maybe you'll actually beat the lieutenant this time!" I didn't know if that was an insult or a compliment, so I just remained silent. "So here's my part of the code: the First letter is Z."

"First letter is Z. Got it."

As the man walked away, Bulbasaur approached me and nudged my leg with his head. I crouched down and took out a Potion as Pikachu spoke with Bulbasaur. I healed his injuries and sprayed him with some Paralyze Heal before petting his head. Bulbasaur smiled, and for a brief moment, a light surrounded him before it faded out. Bulbasaur and I stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before he looked away. I took that as a cue to return him. When Pikachu made a questioning noise and looked at me in confusion, I shrugged. Whatever Bulbasaur was thinking, I wasn't going to force him to evolve if he didn't want to.

 **X-X-X**

After minutes of searching, I managed to find the next parts of the code hidden in the trash cans rather easily: a "P" and an "A". I didn't really know what four-letter word was made up of those letters, but maybe it would become clearer after I got the last part of the code from the next trainer.

"Well now! Such a teensy-weensy lil' lad!" I didn't respond to the sailor standing in front of me and just gave him an apathetic look. He was tall and muscular—not as much as Lieutenant Surge, but still enough to look slightly intimidating. The sleeves of his shirt were pulled up, revealing the tattoos on his muscly biceps. "You wanna get my part of the code? You're gonna have to beat my Pokémon!" He tossed up a Poké Ball and in a flash of light, it appeared: a real-life Electabuzz. Somewhat humanoid in appearance, its body was covered in yellow fur decorated in black stripes. It growled and began to spin its arms in a windmill fashion, and electricity built up around its body. "Check out my Electabuzz! Those muscles! That electricity! Now there's a _real_ Electric type!" The sailor said this as he looked at Pikachu.

I heard Pikachu growl in my ear, but I didn't let myself get as riled up as he had. Instead, I weighed my options. Although he'd gotten a chance to rest, I wasn't sure if Bulbasaur would be able to stand up against an Electabuzz. There was Pikachu, but I sincerely wanted him to be in top condition before battling Surge's Raichu. Obviously Squirtle was out. The only remaining choice was Charmeleon…unfortunately.

"Please, please, keep it together for this," I whispered to Charmeleon's Poké Ball, as if that would make him obey my wishes—unlike the last four times. I sent him out, earning cries of surprise and anger from Pikachu. Charmeleon didn't roar or attempt to intimidate upon his entrance. He just remained silent. I noticed that if he wasn't enraged, he was quiet to an almost thoughtful degree.

"Charmeleon, eh? That ain't gonna be enough to stop my Electabuzz, lad!" The sailor proclaimed as his Electabuzz stepped in front of him and began to size up Charmeleon. "Alright, Electabuzz, use Leer!" The Electric Pokémon's eyes gave a malevolent glint, which made Charmeleon stiffen from fright. "Quick Attack!" The Electabuzz quickly became a yellow blur as it dashed towards Charmeleon and tackled into him. Charmeleon managed to brace himself and was sent skidding back a few feet from the impact.

"Use Ember," I commanded. Charmeleon spun around and flicked the flame at the tip of his tail in the Electabuzz's direction. A flurry of small flames was sent flying at the Electabuzz, who raised its arms to shield its face.

"Quick Attack again!"

"Growl and then Cut."

As the Electabuzz began charging towards him again, Charmeleon took a deep breath before belting out an intimidating growl. It was enough to get the Electric type to slow its charge and gave Charmeleon a chance to sidestep the tackle. His sharp claws glinted before he used them to slash the Electabuzz in the side.

"Thunder Punch uppercut!" The Electabuzz balled up a fist that crackled with electricity before it delivered an uppercut against Charmeleon's snout. It didn't seem to do much damage, and Charmeleon retaliated by slashing the Electric type's arm.

"Ember!" Charmeleon opened his mouth and began spitting embers into the Electabuzz's face. Another electrified punch was thrown, this time aimed at Charmeleon's gut. Even if the attack didn't do much to harm him, the force behind it was enough to make him stumble back. "Dragon Rage!" The Flame Pokémon took a deep breath before roaring, breathing out bright blue flames that completely covered his opponent. The Electabuzz flailed about, obviously in pain and began swinging its arms in a windmill motion before charging into Charmeleon, striking him with a flurry of blows. "Use Leer!" Charmeleon narrowed his eyes and when they glinted, the Electabuzz stopped its flailing. "Use Dragon Rage again!"

"Dodge with Quick Attack!" Just as Charmeleon breathed out a stream of blue fire, the Electabuzz quickly dodged the attack by running behind of Charmeleon. "Thunder Punch once more!" An electrified punch was quickly thrown at the back of Charmeleon's head. That blow seemed to do more damage than the last punch because Charmeleon fell to one knee and began shaking his head. After a few seconds, he got up and turned around to snarl at the Electric Pokémon. "It's on its last legs! Time for the finisher!" The Electabuzz jumped away from Charmeleon and began swinging its arms in a windmill fashion once again. Electricity came to life around its body and eventually became so thick that the Electabuzz wasn't even visible within it. It then dashed forward, leaving a trail of electricity behind it.

Charmeleon didn't have time to move. When the Electabuzz made impact, its electrical charge was transferred to Charmeleon and he was pushed back by about a foot. He was still standing, but a bit winded. I felt relief, but that didn't last long because Charmeleon began to have a meltdown. He stomped the floor, growling and spitting fire before launching himself at the Electabuzz. The Electric type didn't seem to have the strength to dodge, as it was bent over panting before it got barreled over by Charmeleon and landed on its back. Claws and fists hit their respective targets, but neither of them seemed to be giving in. But eventually, Charmeleon's attacks increased in speed and ferocity to a point where the Electabuzz wasn't even able to get a punch in before being interrupted by a cut or flames being spat into its face. I was sure the worse was going to happen. I was about to give up to avoid another accident when the sailor returned his Electabuzz.

"Sheesh! What an embarrassing defeat!" He said, hold his head in his hands. "And after we used the lieutenant's secret technique!"

I was about to ask what he meant by _'secret technique'_ , but Charmeleon roared. He hadn't exhausted his rage just yet, and he was breathing fire in the direction of the sailor, as if demanding he send back out his Pokémon. I took that as a cue to return him into his ball, and I started to quietly plead for him to stay in there and calm down. I was never sure if pleading worked or not, but Charmeleon never came back out after he was returned in an enraged state—probably releasing his frustration in his ball, I guess.

"Here's the second part of the code," the sailor said as he approached and handed me a piece of paper. On it was the letter Z. "I tell ya, that Charmeleon was as fierce as it was strong! You must be proud to have raised such a powerhouse, eh?"

I wasn't so much proud of Charmeleon as I was afraid of him and what he could do. But I could only nod stiffly out of politeness and fear of being exposed as a poor trainer.

 **X-X-X**

I wasn't too surprised when I learned that the code was "ZZAP". The last time I challenge this gym, the code was "VOLT", and I decrypted the code in the same manner. 26-26-01-16 was all I had to put in in order to power down the electrified doors leading to Lieutenant Surge.

I stood still and took a deep breath before looking at Pikachu, who was staring down the hall. "You ready?" Pikachu didn't look at me, but he nodded. "Good. We'll win this time. I know it."

We said nothing more to each other as I walked down the hall and entered Lieutenant Surge's room. Surge, already anticipating an opponent, was standing on the other side of the battleground with his arms folded across his chest. He arched an eyebrow at the sight of me. "You again? You want _more_ punishment, kid?"

I didn't allow that to anger me, although Pikachu growled. "I've come to challenge you to another battle for your badge."

"Persistent, aren't we? Think you've trained hard enough to withstand the electric power of my Pokémon, boy?" I opened my mouth to answer with a yes, but Surge continued, "I'll be the judge of that! I accept your challenge…"

"Red Ketchum."

"Ketchum. I'll even take it easy on you. We'll have three battles and whoever wins two out of three is the winner. Do you accept those conditions?" I nodded. "Speak up!" He barked.

"Yes, sir!" I exclaimed, frightened a bit by the outburst.

"Good! Now choose your first man to fall on the battlefield!" I needed no time to choose. Bulbasaur was out on the battlefield in an instant. The lieutenant sized him up with a smirk. "Oh, _I see_! Trying to use a Grass type to your advantage. Not that that's going to help you succeed." Surge took out a Poké Ball and released a Pikachu. My own Pikachu made the sound of surprise that I wanted to do. I wanted to ask why he was using a Pikachu if he considered them weak, but he beat me to it by saying, "My little Pikachu ought to be enough to cut your Bulbasaur down to size." I wanted to tell him not to count on that, but I didn't respond.

"Bulbasaur, Poison Gas!" Bulbasaur's bulb shuddered before expelling dark purple gas. In the direction of Surge's Pikachu. It covered the battlefield and was inhaled by the electric mouse, making it have a coughing fit. "Now grab it with Vine Whip!"

"Dodge with Quick Attack!" The moment Bulbasaur's vines came close to it, the Pikachu jumped over them and began evading them on its way to Bulbasaur. When it came close, it tackled head first into Bulbasaur and sent him skidding back. "Now return the favor with Toxic!" The tip of the Pikachu's tail began to glow bright purple before it spun around and jabbed its tail into Bulbasaur's torso, but that gave him the opportunity to grab hold of it with his vines.

"Good! Now use Acid!" A spray of acid was fired out of his bulb and onto the Pikachu, making it cry out in pain.

"Use Flash!" The Pikachu suddenly lit up with a blinding white light. When the light faded, the Pikachu had managed to slip out of Bulbasaur's vines and was now standing several feet away from him. "Now use Swift!" The Mouse Pokémon spun around, its tail glowing for a brief moment before a ray of stars was sent flying at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur _looked_ like he was trying to dodge the attack, but he wound up stumbling a bit and got hit anyway, the stars dispersing into shimmering dust that faded after a few seconds.

"Hit it with Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur's vines shot forward and lashed out, but none of his blows came close to hitting the Pikachu. Some of his attacks it didn't even have to dodge. At the very least, the poison in its system was wearing it down. Unfortunately, the poison from its Toxic attack would gradually get worse and worse in comparison to the poison from Bulbasaur's gas. Poison type or not, I was worried if he would be able to endure it long enough to win the battle. "Ram into it with Tackle!" Bulbasaur retracted his vines and charged at the Pikachu. It jumped to Bulbasaur's left to avoid impact, but one of his vines shot out from beneath his bulb and wrapped around the mouse's tail. "Good! Now tackle it!"

"Evade it!" As Bulbasaur ran towards the Pikachu, it just barely managed to dodge him. The chase went on like that for a while, with the Electric type dodging Bulbasaur's attacks. Eventually, Bulbasaur slowed down and he put less force behind his tackles until he stopped moving. Bulbasaur swayed around a bit before he collapsed. Surge's Pikachu breathed a sigh of relief and tugged its tail free from the vines. "Excellent work, Pikachu! Take a rest."

I sighed as the lieutenant returned his Pikachu to its ball. I returned Bulbasaur into his ball and whispered, "You did well. I'm proud of you."

"Versatility is the key to winning battles, Ketchum. A Pokémon can learn more moves than those it shares a type with and cover itself," Surge lectured me. "I can shock people with more things than electricity." Apparently. I should've known better. Misty's Starmie had a counter against Electric types, so it figured that a person like Surge would have more coverage than just Electric attacks and utilize more ailments than paralysis. "Do you still wanna continue? I ain't gonna judge you if you want to run away."

I frowned. "I'm continuing." It was awfully cocky of him to just assume he'd win because he one won battle. There was still technically two battles left for me to win.

The lieutenant smirked. "Good. I don't tolerate early quitters!" He tossed a Poké Ball up into the air and in a flash of light, a Voltorb appeared. I'd never seen one in person until now, but it actually _did_ eerily resemble a Poké Ball with its spherical body that was red on top and white on the bottom. I immediately stood still and Surge looked proud to see I'd been intimidated. "You know what this Pokémon is? Voltorb… A dangerous Pokémon that can explode at the slightest of shocks. Just imagine how most of their battles end. So, what are you going to have face _this_ opponent, Ketchum?"

I sighed. Not counting Pikachu, I only had two Pokémon who were able to take on the Voltorb: Charmeleon, who had anger issues, and Squirtle, who had a weakness to Electric type attacks. Charmeleon probably had a greater chance of making the Voltorb explode than Squirtle did, if only because of the ferocity he tended to put behind his attacks. Squirtle _might_ be able to endure an explosion while hiding in his shell, but probably not an electrical attack. Both were risky…

"Having second thoughts, kid?"

My fingers brushed Charmeleon's ball for just a few seconds before grabbing Squirtle's instead. I sent him out and the turtle Pokémon appeared on all fours in a flash of light. Squirtle took a look around, then at the Voltorb, and then at Lt. Surge. The sight of the lieutenant made him cry out in fear. I guess he remembered Surge from his attempts at vandalizing the gym, but the gym leader didn't seem upset at the sight of him. Maybe he just didn't remember Squirtle?

"So you've gone from using Pokémon that _resist_ electrical attacks to one that's _weak_ against them. Are you throwing in the towel, Ketchum?" Surge said with a frown. "Voltorb, use Screech!" The Voltorb's eyes twitched before it began to emit an ear-splitting screeching. The sound was enough to make Squirtle wince and withdraw into his shell. "Now use Sonic Boom!" The Voltorb spun in place before unleashing a shockwave. It hit Squirtle's shell, but didn't seem to do much damage.

It felt inevitable that Voltorb would explode. It would probably be best if Squirtle stayed as far away from that Voltorb as possible and stuck to attacking from a distance. "Squirtle, Bubble Beam!" Squirtle popped his head out from within the shell and sprayed out a jet of bubbly foam at the Voltorb. It covered the Ball Pokémon completely, but it spun around and easily shook off the suds. Squirtle laughed before pulling his head back into his shell.

"Think you can stay safe in your shell and just fire away? Voltorb, begin the maneuver!" At Surge's command, the Voltorb began rolling in place before it took off. It rolled around Squirtle, circling him quickly. "Use Flash and then ram into it!"

"Stay in and close your eyes!" I shouted to Squirtle. I knew he was hiding away in his shell, but he could still probably be affected by that blinding light. While still rolling, the Voltorb began to glow bright white. I closed my eyes before it flashed a blinding light, so I was able to see the Voltorb before it rolled into Squirtle's shell, only to bounce right off of it.

"Hmph. Pretty sturdy little squirt," the lieutenant muttered. His Pokémon rolled into Squirtle a few more times before giving up. Squirtle's laughter echoed from inside of the shell, which made a vein pop up on the Voltorb. "You won't be laughing for long! Get that little squirt outta there with Screech!" The Voltorb twitched before it began to emit a high-pitched screechy noise. Squirtle's shell shook a bit, but he still didn't come out from within.

"Bubble Beam!" I called out. Still hiding inside of his shell, Squirtle spat out a spray of foam at the Voltorb. Once again, it was covered in foam and Squirtle's laugh echoed out from within the shell. The Voltorb narrowed its eyes and shook a few times before suddenly rolling into Squirtle. This time, its attack had enough force to start spinning him around somehow. Squirtle's arms and legs popped out of the shell and gripped the floor to stop himself. Squirtle poked his head out of the shell, and from what I could see, he was very dizzy.

"Quick, Self-Destruct!" Surge commanded. Electricity crackled around his Voltorb as the vein on its head became bigger as it throbbed quickly. In an instant, the Voltorb exploded, covering the battlefield in smoke. The lieutenant gave a salute. "Your sacrifice was valuable for our victory, Voltorb." When the smoke faded away, the Voltorb was lying next to Squirtle's shell, looking scuffed up and unconscious. After a few seconds, Squirtle popped his head out of his shell and looked at the lieutenant before he started laughing. "Son of a—! It shouldn't have been able to survive that explosion even inside of its shell!"

I couldn't reply with a smug comment even if I wanted to. I had felt tense for that entire battle every time that Voltorb rammed into Squirtle, worrying that any impact would lead to it exploding and knocking out Squirtle. Maybe that was Surge's strategy? The spontaneous surprise of fighting a living bomb rather than just outright ending the fight by zapping Squirtle. Or maybe he just wanted to finish the battle with a literal bang, since even if Voltorb exploding meant a loss for him, if it took out Squirtle, too, he would still win. When I noticed Squirtle was still laughing at Surge and now sticking his tongue out at him, I decided to return him into his ball. "Good job out there. You were really lucky, you know?" I whispered to his ball.

"Well," Surge began, drawing my attention back onto him. "I guess I have no one but myself to blame for this loss," he said as he returned his Voltorb into its ball. He put it away and took out another Poké Ball. "No more messing around then! It's time for the big guns!" In a flash of light, Surge sent out his Raichu. Its cheeks crackled with sparks of electricity as its tail whipped about. I could hear electricity crackling from Pikachu as well. Without me even telling him to, he jumped off of my shoulder and ran onto the battlefield. "Itching to settle the score, huh?"

I narrowed my eyes and didn't bother to answer him. "Pikachu, circle it and use Double Team." Pikachu took off, images of himself trailing behind him as he began to circle the bigger Electric type. "Use Swift!" With a flick of Pikachu's tail, rays of glowing stars were fired at the Raichu—the real ones blending in among the illusions. Surge's Raichu attempted to bat them aside with the bolt-shaped tip of its tail, but once the first barrage hit, it was susceptible to more attacks. "Quick Attack!"

"Tail Whiplash!"

"Tail _what_?"

A glint appeared in the Raichu's eyes before its tail straightened out behind it and the Mouse Pokémon began to spin around quickly. The Raichu looked like a top as its tail sliced through the copies of Pikachu that charged at it, then the bolt-shaped tip of the tail slammed into the real Pikachu and knocked him aside.

"Now pin it with a Body Slam and go into a Submission!" Surge commanded.

Pikachu was quickly up on his feet and stood in place as the Raichu ran towards him. It pounced at the smaller mouse, but Pikachu jumped back in time to avoid being pinned and spun around to slam his tail into the Raichu's face. "Use Swift!" At my command, Pikachu flicked his tail and fired a ray of stars at the downed Raichu. It blocked the attack with a lash of its tail before leaping at Pikachu once again. The smaller Electric type jumped back to dodge it once again. "Quick Attack!"

"Submission!"

Pikachu charged at the Raichu just as it stood up. He tackled head first into its stomach, but that wasn't enough to knock the Raichu down. The larger mouse Pokémon grabbed Pikachu in that moment and began to roll along the floor with him like a wheel. After a while, the Raichu stopped on its feet and tossed Pikachu up into the air.

Lieutenant Surge smirked. "Jump and use Mega Kick!" His Raichu got the same smirk on its face before it bounced up to Pikachu. It performed a flip in midair and kicked Pikachu hard enough to send him flying back down to the battlefield. "Finish it with Mega Punch!" As the Raichu fell to the ground, it held out its paw, which began to glow bright white.

Pikachu recovered in time to jump to the side, so the Raichu's punch wound up making a dent in the floor of the battlefield. A physical attack like Quick Attack had a chance of getting Pikachu caught by Submission and assaulted by another combo. To stay away and use Swift would be the best option that we had, especially when it seemed that Surge's Raichu only knew close-range attacks and nothing more. It was just a matter of dodging those attacks.

Surge's Raichu stood upright and growled at Pikachu. Pikachu spun around and shook his tail tauntingly at the larger Electric type. That was the moment the Raichu needed to pounce, swinging its paw in an attempt to punch him, but Pikachu ducked to avoid the blow and then took off running with the Raichu trailing behind him.

"Use Quick Attack to pounce it and go into Submission!" Surge commanded.

"Jump, Pikachu!" I exclaimed.

Just as the Raichu dashed forward, Pikachu jumped and wound up landing on top of it. He looked like a person riding a wild Ponyta as the Raichu tried to buck him off while running all over. At some point, the Raichu got the idea of simply dropping to the floor and rolling onto its back. Pikachu jumped off before he could be crushed beneath the Raichu's weight.

"Use Double Team and Swift!" I called out.

"This trick again? Raichu, you know what to do!"

Copies of Pikachu began to appear, dashing around the Raichu once more. They fired rays of stars at the larger Electric type, who spun around and batted most of the stars away with its tail.

"Use Quick Attack!"

"Prepare to use Submission!"

Pikachu charged at the Raichu once again. When it stopped spinning, the Raichu turned to face him, prepared to grab hold of the smaller mouse when it had the chance. But just as Pikachu came within reach and the Raichu leaned forward to grab him, he seemed to disappear. Seconds afterwards, it was tackled from behind by Pikachu, who followed up the attack with two spinning tail slams. The Raichu countered with a tail slam of its own, the force behind the blow being enough to send Pikachu flying away from it and over to my side of the field. The larger mouse Pokémon hunched over and panted heavily. At last, it was on its last legs. Pikachu got up and began to do the same as Surge's Raichu. He was also exhausted. The battle would soon be over.

"This is it… Raichu, it's time to show off our electric trick!" Surge proclaimed. "Time for the Volt Tackle!"

I blinked. "Volt…Tackle?" He was just dropping made up moves all over the place now.

"If you evolve a Pikachu into a Raichu before a certain point, it won't be able to naturally learn powerful Electric type attacks like Thunderbolt," Surge explained as his Raichu turned around and dropped down onto all fours. "To make up for that, Raichu and I came up with a move that would make up for its puny Thunder Shock." Electricity crackled around the Raichu's entire body as it swung its tail in the air. The amount of electricity around it intensified until it formed an orb and only the Raichu's silhouette was visible within it. "Ready? CHARGE!"

The Raichu took off, leaving a trail of electricity behind it. It reminded me of that sailor's Electabuzz, but it moved much faster. So fast that I blinked and missed the moment when the Raichu's attack hit Pikachu, sending him flying past me and into a wall, where he made a deep dent before dropping to the floor. It took a few seconds for me to register what had happened before I ran over to Pikachu and checked him over. Static electricity coursed along his body and he twitched occasionally.

I reached into my bag to take out a Super Potion, but Pikachu picked himself up and slowly made his way back over to the battlefield. I tried to stop him. I tried to tell him he wouldn't be able to take another Volt Tackle, or even another attack, but he managed to squirm out of my hands and drag himself back into the battlefield.

"Well…I'll be damned," Surge muttered. "That's the _second_ time that move failed to finish off the enemy. God damn it…!"

I stared silently at Pikachu's back for a few seconds. If he was still raring to fight on, I couldn't stop him. The Raichu looked like it was in even worse condition after performing that attack. It was still conscious, but its legs were buckling, as if it were straining not to fall over from fatigue. It wouldn't take much to knock it out at this point, would it? "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

Electricity crackled around Pikachu's body. It almost looked like he was straining to build up power and I wondered if maybe he was too weak to attack. But I was proved wrong when he unleashed a large bolt of electricity at the Raichu. It didn't matter if it was an Electric type at this point—that move was strong enough to knock the Raichu out and make it collapse. After that, Pikachu fell over. I ran to him and picked him up, worried that I had pushed him too far. But Pikachu was smiling and mumbling things to himself so quietly that I doubt I could understand him even if we spoke the same language.

"Not bad, Ketchum!" I looked up and found myself in the shadow of Lt. Surge. "Talk about a shocker: my Raichu losing to a Pikachu. Here. The Thunder Badge is yours." Surge dropped the badge down from over my head and I managed to hold out a hand in time to catch it. The badge had an orange center surrounded by several yellow points. It reminded me of a flower, or maybe the sun. I wound up slipping the badge into my pocket so I could focus on holding Pikachu. The rest of Surge's speech went unnoticed by me for the most part, although I still nodded and answered when spoken to. I simply felt such an overwhelming pride in my Pokémon that I was unable to focus on much else.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing with my Pokémon and celebrating our latest victory, and that night in our room at the Pokémon Center, I couldn't help telling my Pokémon how amazing they were. A bright smile had remained on my face for so long that day that if Blue saw me, he'd probably think it was creepy. But I didn't care how it looked. This satisfying victory had made me so happy.

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes_

 **A is the first letter of the alphabet, P is the sixteenth and Z is the twenty-sixth: 26-26-01-16 makes (Z-Z-A-P.)**

 **Horsea learns Bubble Beam via TM. Pikachu learns Swift at level 26 in Gen I, but only in Red and Blue version—Thunderbolt replaces it from Yellow version onward. Magnemite learns Double Team and Take Down via TM. Pikachu learns Flash and Toxic via TM (HM for the former in Gen 1). Voltorb learns Flash via TM (HM for Gen 1). Raichu can only learn Volt Tackle from Gen 3 onward—and only via breeding.**


	10. Chapter 10 - Restless Spirits

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Only this fic._

 **X-X-X**

Evolving isn't so great, I've realized. When you evolve, you feel so powerful that you feel capable of anything. But you also go through a personality—at least in some cases. Maybe Surge's Raichu was nice before it evolved from a Pikachu, just like how Charmeleon was a bit more approachable as a Charmander. Even if the same thing wouldn't happen to me, I feel confident in my ability and my potential. Evolution is only an option. I don't _need_ to do it to become stronger. I am strong as is.

Bulbasaur's reasons, though, are different. His desire to not evolve wasn't out of confidence in his current form, but fear. "That Charmander guy… He _looked_ nice when we met before, and after he evolved, he was _still_ nice…but there's something off about him," he told me the morning before Red sent him away to Professor Oak. "I feel unsafe around him. Like he's going to snap and harm someone. I'm kind of glad that I'm being sent away, even if it's just for a little while. Just make sure Charmeleon doesn't hurt Red." I promised, although I didn't think I had to. As aggressive as Charmeleon was these days, I didn't think he would ever try to harm Red.

Anyway, our journey continued as we headed back up to Saffron City. Red had intended to challenge the leader of the gym there. He said that they used Psychic type Pokémon, and that since something about Squirtle was oddly resilient towards that type, he would be very useful in challenging the gym.

But when we got there, we stumbled into an odd situation: men and Pokémon alike kicking and punching dummies, bags and even each other. It turned out to be a dojo, specializing in Fighting type Pokémon. We tried to leave so we could get to the gym, but the members of the dojo were insistent on him staying and challenging them. Red wound up giving in, insisting that any sort of battle would help make us stronger. It wasn't exactly easy, but we made it through.

After beating him in battle, the "master" of the dojo started crying about how Red had to take something from their dojo as a sign of his victory. He offered him one of his two Pokémon—his punching Hitmonchan or his kicking Hitmonlee—rather than their emblem, which seemed odd. It was just a piece of cloth with squiggles on it, and certainly not as valuable as one of his own Pokémon. Red was nice, though, and turned down his offer. I guess he thought it would be mean to take someone's Pokémon away from them, because neither of them seemed keen on the idea of being given away.

After quickly escaping from the dojo, we went about walking around the city until we eventually found the real Saffron Gym. As we walked up the path leading to the door, I was surprised to find a familiar person standing in front of the doors. Red's friend Blue was crouched over and seemingly staring inside through the glass doors. When he turned around and saw us, that annoying smirk appeared on his face and he approached us.

"Well, if it isn't Red! Come to challenge the Saffron Gym, too?" Blue asked with his arms folded across his chest. Red's only response was to nod. "Too bad! The gym is closed!"

"Closed?" Red asked, sounding confused.

"You heard me. In fact, it's been closed for a while. I went to challenge the gyms in both Celadon City _and_ Vermilion City, but _this_ one's still closed!" Blue held a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Y'know, they say the gym leader is actually a psychic herself. I wonder if she's got some sort of…mental troubles or whatever that are preventing her from doing her job!"

"Maybe."

The other boy groaned and shook his head. "Whatever. I'll take this time to continue training my Pokémon. I think I'll go to Lavender Town. They say you can find lots of Ghost type Pokémon there. Psychic type Pokémon are weak against Ghost and Bug type moves, and Ghosts are pretty powerful in their own right." Blue puffed out his chest proudly. "I'm 100 percent sure my team can beat her as is, but it never hurts to be prepared." He pointed a finger at Red. " _You_ , on the other hand, would probably need all the help you can get! Considering _your_ team, it would be smart to get a Ghost type!"

"Huh?! We beat _you_ , didn't we?!" I snapped, pointing up at Blue and getting his attention.

"Eh?" Blue looked down at me and snickered."This _shock rat_ here probably wouldn't be able to handle an Abra, let alone an Alakazam!" I frowned at Blue's remark and zapped the ground near his feet, making him stumble back. He sucked his teeth and ignored me. "I expect you to keep up with me, Red. After all, it's good to have a punching bag—I mean, a rival! Smell ya later!" Blue gave him a goodbye salute before walking away.

I snorted. "I'll give _you_ a punching bag, you…" I trailed off as I turned to look up at Red. He was thinking, obviously, about what our next step should be. After a few seconds, Red took out a piece of paper from his bag and stared at it for a few seconds before shoving it back in there.

"Blue is probably right. A Ghost type Pokémon might help us beat the gym leader. And…" Red looked down at the ground sadly. "Lavender Town is where Nidorino is buried." The mention of Nidorino made me still. "It wouldn't be right to go there and _not_ …see him. Let's get going quickly, Pikachu."

I jumped into Red's arms and climbed up onto his shoulder. I nuzzled against his cheek, hoping it would bring both of us some comfort at the thought of meeting Nidorino again. Just thinking about him brought back feelings of guilt for me.

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 10: Restless Spirits~_

To Red's surprise, the fastest routes to Lavender Town were blocked off. According to a police officer, it was Snorlax season. Whatever a Snorlax was, a bunch of them had recently popped up around the region, making certain areas inaccessible. In order to get to Lavender Town, we would have to go _back_ to Cerulean City, go to the east along Route 9, go south to Route 10, and go through a cave called Rock Tunnel in order to get to Lavender Town. It was as annoyingly long as it sounded, but apparently it was safer than possibly enraging a pack of Snorlax. We spent the entire day walking until we found a Pokémon Center on Route 10, where we rested for the night.

The next day, we entered Rock Tunnel. I didn't know how Red felt, but I was nervous. Our last experience in a cave didn't end well, and to make matters worse, this place would be entirely dark. Our only source of light would be from the flashlight Red bought off some man staying in the Pokémon Center—who, according to Red, sold it for an unfairly high price. If Red could understand me, I'd ask why he couldn't just use Charmeleon, but then I figured that he didn't want to risk Charmeleon picking a fight with anyone in the dark.

When we weren't stumbling around in the dark, we were bumping into other humans and wild Pokémon. The light would chase off most of the wild Pokémon, who probably weren't used to things like that, but we weren't so fortunate when it came to the humans, who all seemed to be trainers itching for a fight. Some wanted to battle not so much to win, but to show off their rare Pokémon. And after beating them, they all said the same thing more or less: "Have you seen a Cubone around here?"

Cubone, apparently, is a very rare Pokémon. Red said that he heard about them on TV. They were rare and humans often hunted them down to get the skulls they wore over their heads—skulls that once belonged to their own kind. I wondered if those trainers wanted Cubone for the same reason or if they just wanted to brag about it the way they did with their other rare Pokémon. Either way, I felt pity for whatever Cubone who was caught by one of _those_ weirdoes.

"There's nothing a Ground type would be able to beat that I don't already have a Pokémon for. Still, it'd be interesting to see a Cubone in the wild, just to say I saw one," Red commented, and that got me worried. The last time he showed interest in a strange Pokémon, he wound up catching a Squirtle with an attitude. Our team—trainer included—was already weird enough without adding a mopey Pokémon that was always crying!

We spent a long time wandering around the cave. I wondered if we were taking so long because Red was trying to find a Cubone. That boy could _really_ be annoying when he put his mind to it. Just as I was wondering if we would _ever_ get out, we saw an opening where a bright light shone out. Fresh air at last! I constantly tapped Red, pointing out the exit so he wouldn't lose focus of it for whatever reason. Lavender Town was within reach…

At least until we heard a cry, like a child crying out in pain. It was the sort of crying that could make a nice person search for the one who was crying to see what the matter was. So naturally, Red couldn't help being concerned. "What was that? Crying…? Do you think someone's hurt, or maybe they got lost?" We wound up wandering away from the cave exit and back into the darkness, towards the sobbing. The crying led us to a small creature curled up on the floor. Red flashed his light down on it and that seemed to be enough to make it jump up onto its feet. Its light brown body seemed to be covered in splotches of red, like dry blood. Even the skull it wore was stained with blood. It clutched a blood-stained bone with a sharpened end close to its body like it was something valuable. "A Cubone! And it looks like it's been hurt very badly…" Very badly didn't even describe the way it looked. It must have been crying from the pain of its injuries. Red put his flashlight into his mouth and began searching inside of his bag, hopefully for something to make the Cubone feel better.

The Cubone growled at us before it lunged forward and whacked Red in the leg. It made him cry out in pain and drop his flashlight. I could see the Cubone well enough in the dark to see it tackle into Red headfirst and push him over, causing a few things to drop out of his bag.

"Hey! Cut it out! He's trying to help—!" I didn't get to finish because the blood-covered Pokémon whacked me across the face with its bone club.

"I hate humans! So I hate anyone who associates with humans by default!" The Cubone shouted as she moved in to headbutt me. I jumped to the side to dodge, but she grabbed the end of my tail to stop me. I tried to shake her off by shocking her, but it had no effect, not even making the Cubone flinch. "Die!"

"Squirtle, use Bubble Beam!" Red's sudden command was followed by a spray of foamy water that hit the Cubone from behind. The force of the attack was enough to push the Cubone away from me, although it _did_ get me a bit wet.

"What _would_ you do without me?" I heard Squirtle ask before Red picked up the flashlight and shined it down on the Cubone once more. "So much for being _'the ace'_. Ha!"

I snorted. "Don't get cocky just because you had a type advantage." Red walked over to the Cubone, who appeared to be unconscious. He searched through his bag once again and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Don't tell me…" Red bent down and tapped the Cubone with the Poké Ball. It went inside in a beam of light and the ball clicked shut. "SERIOUSLY?! You're willing to catch a Pokémon that tried to _kill_ you?!" I screamed loud enough to probably disturb the Pokémon living in the cave.

"I don't really want to own a Cubone," Red began, "but I don't think just potions will make it better. It's better if I take it to a Pokémon Center so it could be treated. Once it is, I'll just release it back into this cave—hopefully with no incidents." I gave him a skeptical look. "Honest!"

Squirtle snorted. "That's _just_ what this group needs: _another_ potential psychopath!"

"Or another _jerk_ ," I added.

The turtle Pokémon looked at me and bared his teeth. "What'd you say, you—?!" He disappeared in a flash of light as Red returned him into his ball.

"Let's get to Lavender Town quickly," said Red as he picked me up. "I really hope they have a Pokémon Center there…"

 **X-X-X**

When we entered town, Red hurried to the Pokémon Center the moment he saw it. He handed the Cubone over to the nurses, saying that she was badly injured and needed help immediately. Then he handed the rest of over for some ordinary human. Although that Cubone was kind of a jerk, I spent the time healing in my Poké Ball hoping she would be okay. To my surprise, the moment I popped out of my ball, I spotted four balls in the tray instead of the three Red had given the nurse.

"Were you worried about your friend?" The nurse holding the tray asked with a giggle. "Don't worry. They're okay." I followed the nurse back to the front area, jumping onto the counter and on top of Red's head as I did. "Well, we checked over your Cubone, and although it was slightly beaten up, it wasn't severely injured," the nurse explained to Red.

"Not injured? But…it was covered in blood!"

"We found no wounds of any sort on it. My only guess would have to be that the blood was from something else, perhaps another Pokémon." The woman gave Red a look of suspicion. "How do you _not_ know how your own Pokémon was injured?"

"W-well… I heard it crying in Rock Tunnel and…" Red explained what had happened to the woman. "I was going to release it back into the cave once it was better, you see."

"Ah, I see…" The nurse sounded thoughtful as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Cubone are an uncommon sight in these parts. One never finds a Cubone in the wild without its mother nearby. Perhaps that little Cubone's mother is…dead."

"Dead?"

"You didn't hear this from me, _but_ …" The nurse leaned over the counter to whisper, "As of late, the corpses of Cubone and Marowak have been found outside of the Pokémon Tower. People say it's connected to the sudden appearance of ghosts in the tower. Of course, no _ordinary_ folks are brave enough or skilled enough to go up there in search of the cause of either case, but the mayor's hired priestesses and mediums and whatnot to solve the problem. And _not a one_ has come back out."

"Ahem!"

"EEEK!" The nurse screamed as she jumped upright. She turned around to look at an older nurse behind her. "Um…?"

"You know better than to go telling trainers stories like that—especially little kids! It makes our town look bad," said the older nurse. "Go tend to some other trainers and _don't_ go talking their ear off with that nonsense about ghosts!" As the younger nurse went away, the older nurse looked at Red and smiled. "Instead of prattling on about supernatural mumbo-jumbo, she _should_ have told you to take that poor little Cubone to the Pokémon Volunteer House in town."

Red blinked. "What's that?"

"It's a place where abandoned and disabled Pokémon are cared for by some local townsfolk. I'm sure they wouldn't mind taking care of your Cubone. Here, let me give you the address…"

While the nurse wrote down something on a piece of paper, I couldn't help but feel sad. Cubone lost her mother, maybe. She might have even been one of the dead Marowak that other nurse mentioned. I knew the pain of being separated from my family, but I don't know how I'd feel if one of them died. No wonder she was upset.

 **X-X-X**

Red wandered around Lavender Town for a while before we found the house we were looking for. When we entered, we walked into a lobby with a front counter. Behind the counter was a woman who had a sad look on her face. It took a few seconds for her to notice us and smile in very forced way. "Good day! You're an unfamiliar face. Welcome to the Pokémon Volunteer House. What's the reason for your visit today?"

"I'm here to…um…leave a Pokémon here in your care," Red spoke awkwardly.

I jumped off of Red's shoulder and took a peek into the next room. In it were several different Pokémon, all looking depressed. It wasn't just the ones who looked beat up and injured, either. Even the Pokémon who were in good shape seemed down. The humans looked sad, too. How bad was this place for everyone here to look miserable? Cubone might not have been too nice, but I didn't want to make her endure a place like _this_ after losing her mother.

So I darted back to Red and began tugging at his pants leg to get his attention. "Red! Stop! This is a bad idea!" Finally, the red-eyed boy stopped talking to the woman to look down at me. "You can't do this. You _shouldn't_!" I spoke slowly, shaking my head quickly.

"Is something wrong, Pikachu?"

"Here! Over here!" I exclaimed before running back over to the door. Red walked over to the door and looked into the room. "See? This is a bad place. Let's just take Cubone with us and leave! You _like_ picking up troublesome Pokémon anyway!"

"This…doesn't really look…" Red trailed off, not really sure what to say about this awful place.

"O-oh! Please, don't be alarmed!" The woman exclaimed as she stepped out from behind the counter to approach Red. "The atmosphere here is usually _much_ happier. We try to make the Pokémon feel like they're in a loving home! It's just…" She trailed off after a few seconds before looking down at the ground. "The founder of this volunteer house, Mr. Fuji, has been missing since yesterday. We're all worried about him, including the Pokémon. We've told the police about it, but we fear that he's actually gone to the Pokémon Tower." There's that name again. Why does the place where Nidorino was buried have such problems associated with it? "Mr. Fuji has been concerned about the appearance of Cubone and Marowak corpses in front of the tower as of late. Perhaps he got fed up with waiting for someone else to solve it and he went in there himself…!" The woman's voice began to crack as her eyes teared up. She wiped the tears from her eyes and continued, "I'm so sorry to be acting like this!"

"No, no! It's okay. I mean, the _situation_ isn't okay, but…it's okay to cry at a time like this."

"If only we were able to go search for him. Ghosts haunt the tower, and none of us are really skilled enough trainers to take them on. I just hope Mr. Fuji is safe…" The woman sniffled. "Until then, I'll continue working to help the Pokémon here. So…if you'd be so kind as to give me your Cubone…I'll see to it that it's well-taken care of."

"Okay. Thank you very much." Red took out a particular Poké Ball and held it out to give the woman, but before she could touch it, the ball opened and Cubone popped out. "What?! Cubone!" Without a word, Cubone whacked Red in the leg once again. "Ow!" Then she tackled into him and made him fall down again. That must be her favorite strategy.

"Would you cut that out? We're trying to help you!" I exclaimed. Cubone didn't seem to be paying mind to me. She was busy looking around frantically. I knew that look. I probably even had it a few times myself in the past. "Just _calm down_ and stop hitting people!" In response, she struck me across the face with her club. It was a really hard blow, so my head was spinning after falling to the floor.

"Escape! I need…to…!" The Cubone clutched her bone protectively before looking at the door leading outside. With a roar, she ran to the door with her head lowered and tackled right into it. After that, it headbutted the door a few times before finally making a hole in it just big enough for her to escape through.

"Wait! Get back here!" I shouted before getting up and running through the hole myself.

 **X-X-X**

I followed Cubone for several minutes through the town. Every time I caught up with her, she would whack me away with her club and gain some distance from me. Eventually, our chase led us to the base of some stairs that led into a building. The moment I made it to the top of the stairs, I felt a chill. I slowed down and looked up at the sky. At the top of the stairs was a very big tower. It rose so high into the sky that I couldn't tell where the top was.

"Pikachu!" I spun around to see Red running up the stairs towards me. He stopped halfway up to bend over and catch his breath. "Where…is Cubone?"

"Huh?" I suddenly remembered that I had come here with a purpose. I looked forward. Cubone had come up here, and I'm certain she ran into this building. I looked at Red and pointed at the closed doors. "In there! She ran into that place!"

Once he was finally able to breathe again, Red approached a sign that had been built into the side of the building. "This is the Pokémon Tower…" He looked down at the ground and flinched. "Bl…blood!" I looked down as well to see dried blood splatters on the pavement. There were a lot of blood splatters, actually. If I thought about how they were made, I'd probably get sick. "I-I…!" Red's shaky voice shook me out of my thoughts. "I _really_ …don't like the sight of blood…! A graveyard with ghosts and b-blood…sounds like something from a horror movie…!"

"Get a hold of yourself!" I snapped. "Cubone is in trouble! We have to go and save her!" Even if this place scared _me_ , too.

Red gulped and visibly shuddered. "Right. Cubone could be in trouble. That Mr. Fuji person could also be in there. As scary as this situation is, we need to be brave!" With that statement, I walked into the Pokémon Tower with my scared stiff trainer right behind me. Rows and rows of stones were the first things that caught my attention upon entering. The first row started a few feet away from the entrance, and many more rows went on until they reached the back of the room. "A bunch of graves… Of _course_ those would be here. This is a Pokémon graveyard, even if it's indoors. So where are the ghosts?"

"AIEEEEE!" A shrill scream made us both jump—and made _me_ shock myself out of fright for the first time since evolving.

"No! No! I didn't want them to come out so soon!" Red exclaimed, flailing his arms like a baby Pidgey flapping its wings. _This_ …was a new side of him I didn't really like. If one of us has to be confident and in control, it should be the trainer calling the shots! At that moment, Red got barreled over by a black blur and fell to the ground. That blur turned out to be Green. "Green? Why're _you_ here?"

At that same time, Green, who was lying down on top of Red, shouted, " _You_?! Why are _you_ here?!" She stared down at Red for a few seconds before her cheeks turned a dark shade of red and she slapped his chest before stand up. "D-don't get fresh with me at a time like this!"

"I wasn't trying to be fresh. You knocked me over."

"Don't try to act all sneaky with me! And here I thought you were a simpleminded country bumpkin!"

"Country bumpkin?"

As the two children argued with each other, I noticed something floating down the stairs. It wasn't a Pokémon, but a _human woman_. She wore a strange-looking white dress with a dark skirt that looked more like pants. In her hand, she clutched a stick that had strips of paper attached to it. Her eyes were blank, and her clothes and hair moved on its own. I was speechless at the sight of this weird-looking woman. " _Get…out_ …" She croaked out as floated over to us. " _Get…out…!"_

"Eeeek! Not her again! Protect me from this wacko, Red!" Green cried out as she grabbed hold of the boy.

"F-for what?!"

"What do you _mean_ for what?! She's _floating_! She's possessed by one of those creepy ghosts!"

"I-I don't know how to exorcise a ghost!"

The woman's hair flared out and a dark shadow formed around her. The shadow had white eyes and a smiling mouth that did nothing to make it seem friendly. "GET OUT OR DIE!" She shouted loudly.

"U-uh…! S-Squirtle! Go!" In a flash of light, Squirtle appeared next to me. "In the movies, holy water is a constant tool in exorcising evil spirits."

"Since when was Squirtle _Holy_ type?!"

Red ignored Green and exclaimed, "Use Water Gun!"

"Uh…on _what_?" Squirtle asked, looking confused. I pointed at the creepy-looking woman. "So I have _permission_ to attack a human?"

"Yes! Just _do it_!" I snapped.

Squirtle shrugged before taking a deep breath and spraying the woman with a spurt of water. The force of it was enough to make her fall back and she remained still on the floor for several seconds. "Um… Did I just kill a person?"

A thick purple smoke suddenly came out of the woman's mouth and gathered up into the air like an ominous cloud. In seconds, the cloud gained a big black orb in its center, then a pair of eyes and a mouth that it used to start speaking, "Get out! Or suffer the consequences along with your disgraceful _humans_!"

"Consequences?! All I did was spray you with some water, man!" Squirtle exclaimed.

"It's a g-g-GHOST!" Green shouted as she began hiding behind Red, who was scanning the ghost with his Pokédex.

"It's a Gastly. It's a Ghost type Pokémon," he explained as he stared at the Pokédex's screen. "I guess it possessed that woman."

"Well, it's _still_ a ghost! Catch it! Or _exorcise_ it! Whatever you do, just keep it _away from me_!" The Gastly faded away from sight. We all started to look around for it, but Green was the most frightened of all. "Where'd it go?!" The ghost Pokémon reappeared next to her and licked her face with its big pink tongue. She fell down from shock and landed on her bottom with a cry. "GROOOOSS!"

The Gastly appeared in front of me next and made to lick me. The moment its tongue made contact with my body, I zapped it with electricity. Ghost or no, it felt that and flew away from me, glaring at me in annoyance. "Keep your tongue to yourself!" I exclaimed as I shook a fist at it. Its eyes suddenly began to glow bright yellow before shooting out beams of light. When the beams hit me, I suddenly felt dizzy and wound up falling over.

"Squirtle, use Bubble Beam!" A spray of foam went over my head before it hit the Gastly. The ghost's eyes glowed yellow once more. "Withdraw!" Another pair of eye beams were shot out of the Gastly's eyes, aimed at Squirtle this time I guess. "Bubble Beam again!" Another spray of foam was enough to knock the Gastly out of the air. It faded away before it could hit the floor, but it was only after waiting for a few second that we realized it wasn't going to bug us anymore.

I got up and shook my head as I regained my senses. "Geez! Ghosts are annoying!"

"Green, just what are you doing here?" I turned to look at Red, who was now staring down Green. "This place is very dangerous right now."

The girl huffed and looked away from him. "N-Not that it's any of _your_ business, but I…was looking for a Cubone!"

"Cubone? You've seen a Cubone?"

"I, uh… No. No _live_ ones, anyway."

"Oh… So you saw…dead Cubone and Marowak while you were in here." Red got a sympathetic look on his face. "I'm sorry you had to see something like that."

"D-don't say stuff like that! It'll just make me feel worse!" Green shouted as she shoved Red back. "What're _you_ doing here, anyway? Trying to catch Ghost type Pokémon? Or do you just like hanging around _graves_?"

"We came to find a Cubone that ran in here." The brunette held a hand over her mouth as she looked away, but she didn't say anything. I stared at her in suspicion. Did she really not see Cubone up there? "Anyway, this place is dangerous. It would probably be best if you left."

"No need to tell _me_ twice! I wanna get as _far away_ from this place as possible!" Green turned around to leave, but she suddenly spun around to stare at Red. "Wait a minute. Are you gonna stick around here?"

"I want to keep Cubone safe from whatever's causing this," Red explained.

"Are you serious?! You're just a _kid_! You can't stop Tea— I mean, the thing that's causing all of this! And there's the _ghosts_ running around here possessing people and trying to kill anything that's _human_!"

"It's not like my priority is to exorcise the entire building. I'm just trying to help people, because…standing by and doing nothing would make me as bad as the cause of these problems."

Green put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Seriously. You are just _so_ …ugh! Here then!" She reached into her backpack and tossed something to Red, which he barely caught. "If you wear those, you'll see things that normally can't be seen by the human eye. That includes ghosts and Ghost type Pokémon! If you wear those, you won't be surprised by ghosts!"

"Hm… They look like binoculars," Red commented as he turned the device over in his hands.

"Well, they're more _valuable_ than binoculars, so you _better_ return them!" The girl snapped. Then she calmed down and sighed. "You know what? Just keep them. I don't wanna see another ghost again for the rest of my life… But, uh… Take care of yourself up there, 'kay?" And with that, she quickly ran out of the tower.

My trainer looked dumbfounded. "Green sure is shady sometimes… Where on earth did she get something like _this_?" He slipped the binocular-like device over his eyes. They didn't look any less weird when he was wearing them. "Oh! That woman!" Squirtle and I looked at the woman the Gastly had come out of. She was lying down on the ground, blank-eyed and unconscious. Red walked up to her and knelt down beside her. "…She's still breathing, it seems. I would want to bring her to get help, but…I'm not sure if we'd have time." The boy looked at us. "Do you think she'd be okay down here by herself?"

"I don't even know what the heck's going on here," Squirtle muttered.

"Suck it up. None of us do," I answered back.

 **X-X-X**

We walked up the Pokémon Tower, climbing up the stairs to different floors and fighting off wild Gastly and Haunter who had possessed various humans and were determined to make us leave—and I'm pretty sure their first option was simply killing us. It made me worried. We looked on several floors for Cubone, but found no trace of her or any _non-ghost_ Pokémon. I wondered if they were really to blame for all the Cubone and Marowak being killed, those awful ghosts, and hoped that she was okay. I'd forgive her for her attitude if she was just okay.

Now we were on the sixth floor—I know because I kept count every time we climbed the stairs. There had been no source of light since we entered the tower—or maybe the ghosts were making it dark on purpose. We wandered through rows of graves, on alert for the familiar cry of a Cubone. What we found instead wasn't Cubone, but something that looked like a larger Cubone—even if all we saw of it was its back. The skull on its head didn't seem as loose or old for some reason. We found it swinging its bone club in the air, it bouncing off of something that was only visible for a split second.

"It's…a Marowak," Red confirmed after scanning it with his Pokédex. "I wonder what it's doing."

"I think it's hitting something," I mumbled. The Marowak suddenly stopped swinging its club. And then it just faded away. "Huh?! It vanished!"

"What—?" And just as suddenly as it disappeared, the Marowak reappeared right in front of us, roaring loudly. Its eyes were entirely yellow and it was now covered in thick black smoke. We stepped away from the Marowak, only to back up into a row of graves. "Is this Marowak…a ghost, too?"

" _You'll all pay_ …!" The Marowak seemed to speak in a distorted voice, but even so, its voice carried a tone of rage. _"All of you humans…!"_ She raised her bone club, revealing the sharpened end of the bone. _"I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY BABY!"_

I immediately knew what she wanted to do. I didn't even think about it for a second. My body just moved on its own, jumping in front of the Marowak as she made a dash for Red. The moment her bone club hit me, the strength of her swing was so strong that I blacked out immediately.

 **X-X-X**

"Pikachu… Wake up, Pikachu…" My entire body was sore, but that sad-sounding voice made me force myself to move and open my eyes. But when I did, I couldn't believe what I saw. It was a Nidorino—a very _transparent_ Nidorino—standing in front of me. He smiled, totally unfazed by my shocked expression. "Oh, good! You're awake! Thank goodness! I thought maybe that ghost had, um… Never mind." I glared at the Nidorino because I couldn't do much else in my current state. "Why are you glaring at me? I just helped you."

"You… What did you do with my trainer?"

"Red? I would never hurt Red! My love of Red is the only thing that's keeping me from going crazy like the rest of the Pokémon who live here!"

I blinked. "You…know his name? How? Where is Red?!"

The Nidorino looked sad. "Do you…not remember me? It's me! Nidorino! We met in Viridian Forest…"

"…WHAAAAT?!" I screamed loudly and forced myself to get back onto my feet. "How…?"

"What do you mean _'how'_? I'm a ghost! Isn't that obvious? Oh, wait. That's not what you meant, is it? Well… A while ago, these humans came into the tower and began killing Pokémon. The pain those murdered Pokémon felt made the ghosts that live in this tower sad and angry enough to want to help them. But they're unable to get to the ones responsible, so out of anger, they attack the nice people who want to help. People like Red, those priestess ladies, and that nice Mr. Fuji. They possess them and use their bodies to get to the bad humans—but most only wind up getting killed as a result. Pikachu… That Marowak took control of Red just to get to those bad humans! I don't think she'd even care if she got him killed! You have to go and save him!"

It was a lot to take in, naturally. But when I heard that Red was going to be killed, any sort of confusion and doubt was pushed aside. I put on a determined look and pumped a fist in the air. "Alright! Let's go and save Red, Nidorino!"

Nidorino shook his head. "I can't. Those bad humans did something. Us ghosts can't go up the stairs to the next floor, but the living like you can. That's why the ghosts possessed people—to get up there to fight them. I don't wanna do anything as bad as that. And…" He shrank back. "I'm afraid of seeing Red again. I died after a loss… I'm so ashamed! I can't see him again after something like that!"

"…You're an idiot even in death," I spoke flatly. "Red blamed himself as much as he did Team Rocket, but he never blamed any of his Pokémon. And he was very sad when you died." I looked down at the ground in embarrassment. "So…was I. But none of us hated you for dying! If anything, we missed you very much!"

"…Hee-hee." I immediately looked up and glared at Nidorino's smiling face. "I didn't think _you_ would say such things. I always assumed you didn't like me so much because of the whole poisoning incident." He suddenly started to look alarmed. "But! Now isn't the time to be saying things like that! Red is in danger! You need to go and save him! I…don't want more people getting hurt because of this."

I nodded before folding my arms across my chest. "You can count on me!" I looked around before seeing the stairs going further up into the tower. I ran over to them and looked up. I could hear the sounds of a fight going on upstairs. I looked back at Nidorino, gulped, and climbed the stairs up to the next floor.

 **X-X-X**

If I was shocked when I saw Nidorino, I was even more surprised by what I saw on the seventh floor. It turns out that the bad humans that Nidorino was talking about…were Team Rocket. Three people dressed in black outfits and wearing hats that hid their eyes, but not their upset expressions. Red stood in front of them, his back turned to me.

"I can't believe this! We lost to a _kid_!" One of the male grunts snapped.

"It's all _your_ fault!" Another male grunt shouted at a female. "You and that stupid barrier can't stop _anything_!"

"I-It's only supposed to stop _ghosts_! And _you_ weren't exactly able to stop him in a 3-on-1 fight, either!" The female grunt shouted.

"Let's just get those two to deal with them!" The first grunt spoke in a panicky tone before running away.

"I don't wanna have to deal with those two and their egos again…!" The second grunt also ran away.

The female stared at Red for a few seconds. "Um, you'll pay for what you've done! Our superiors are a lot stronger than we are, you snoopy kid!" And then she ran away as well.

"Fufufufu…! You can all run, but it won't do you any good," Red spoke in a suspicious tone. "For what you did to my baby, you'll pay with your lives. Fufufufu…!"

I frowned and charged up. If the ghosts from before wouldn't leave their human hosts nicely, I would have to force that Marowak out of Red's body by brute force. "I am _so_ sorry for doing this, Red," I whispered before zapping him with a Thunder Bolt attack. It was enough to knock Red out and make him fall over. "AHHH! Please don't be dead! I wasn't trying to hurt you!" I screamed. After a few seconds, a wispy black orb appeared near Red and suddenly transformed into the ghost Marowak. " _You_ …! You thought you could get away with this?!"

The Marowak growled. "You were spared…and you _wasted_ it. Do you love your precious human so much that you want to die alongside of him?" She twirled her bone club around before pointing the sharpened end at me. "I'll grant that wish then!" The Marowak leapt at me and swung her bone club. I jumped over her head and landed close to Red. "DIE!" She threw the club and it came flying at me. I ducked to avoid it, but when I came back up, I was struck in the back of my head. I fell to the floor and saw the Marowak's grab her returning club out of midair, then she began to glow bright orange.

"Take…THIS!" I shouted as I unleashed a bolt of electricity upon the Marowak. But when it made contact, it didn't do a thing. "Huh?!" And that was when I remembered that Marowak was the evolved form of a Ground type Pokémon, and that maybe as a ghost…its immunity to Electric type moves remained even in death. In other words… "I goofed!" I ducked another throw of the spinning bone and _stayed_ down until I saw it return to the Marowak's hand. "If _that_ didn't work, then eat _this_!" I spun around and unleashed a barrage of stars upon the Marowak. They simply went through its body. And _that_ was when I remembered that it was a ghost. Ghost types aren't affected by Normal type moves. So a Ground type Pokémon with the addition of Ghost type immunity means… "I CAN'T WIN?! No! I refuse to believe that!" Out of stubbornness, I charged towards the Marowak with the intention of headbutting it. But it struck me back with its club and sent me flying back into Red.

"Ow…!" Red stirred and sat upright, holding onto his head. "What hap—…?" He trailed off as he noticed the Marowak in front of us. Then he noticed me. "Pikachu!" He picked me up and cradled me in his arms. "Pikachu…"

I saw the Marowak running towards us out of the corner of my eye. "Look out! It's coming!"

That seemed to get Red's attention focused on the threat. He took out a pair of Poké Balls and sent out Charmeleon and Squirtle. "Squirtle, Bubble Beam! Then Charmeleon, Fire Spin!" Both of them took deep breaths. Squirtle sprayed foamy water at the Marowak, forcing it back a bit. Then, while the ghost was slowed down by the effect of Squirtle's bubbles, Charmeleon breathed out a spiraling stream of fire that, when it hit the Marowak, practically became a tornado of flames. "Good job! That should slow it down long enough for me to treat Pikachu."

"Seriously? We're being attacked by a murderous ghost and you wanna focus on making me better?" I muttered before Red took out a Super Potion and began to spray me with it.

"He's got a point. Shouldn't we be _running away_ from a potential death?!" Squirtle shouted as he flailed his hands in the air. "Uh, not that we've got anywhere to go since the _stairs_ are _blocked off_!"

"No use complaining. We just have to win," Charmeleon spoke calmly.

"You realize that all of us have a weakness against Ground type moves, right?" The Water type commented flatly. At that moment, the flames dispersed and revealed the angry Marowak. "And here comes the Ground type moves!" When the Marowak threw her bone at Squirtle, the force of the impact made him fall over and land on his back. "Oh, no! Not _this_ again!" As Squirtle slowly managed to turn himself around so he was facing the Marowak, Charmeleon jumped at the returning bone club and slashed it into pieces. However, the pieces turned into black smoke, which traveled back over to the Marowak and transformed into the bone club once again. "Well _that's_ just not fair!"

Once I was healed, Red put me down on the floor. "Squirtle, use Water Gun!" At his command, Squirtle took a deep breath and sprayed the Marowak with water.

"Charmeleon, use Dragon Rage!" The Fire type roared and unleashed blue flames onto the Marowak that covered its entire body.

" _NOOOOO! MY BABY! I HAVE TO SAVE MY PRECIOUS BABY!"_ The Marowak howled as she dropped to her knees. _"Have to…save…her…!"_ When the flames fizzled out, the Marowk was no longer there.

"Did we kill it? Uh, _can_ we kill a ghost?" Squirtle asked as he continued to lie on his back.

"Well, thanks for making our job easier for us, twerp!" My ears twitched at the sound of a familiar voice. All of us, except for Squirtle, turned around to see Team Rocket approaching us. There were the same black-clad grunts that Red defeated, and also two familiar faces that I never wanted to see again. "Those ghosts are incredibly troublesome here, and these grunts are total cowards when it comes to the supernatural," said the purple-haired man in white—James I think his name was.

The red-haired woman in white with the Pidgeot hair—Jessie—turned to face the black-clad Rockets and snapped, "You hear that?! A 10-year old kid not only beat you, but a _ghost_! That just makes you idiots even _more_ pathetic!"

"It's not like _you_ were able to stop them, either," said one of the male grunts.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing!"

"Hey, Jessie. Doesn't that kid look familiar?" James asked as he pointed at Red. "Uh…" His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh! It's the kid we met on our mission to Mount Moon!"

Jessie spun around to glare at Red and bared her teeth. " _You_?! You little brat! Because of you, we were almost caught by the police and I had nightmares for _days_ because of…whatever the hell you did!" She smirked as she held out a Poké Ball. "I think it's time for a little payback, James!"

"I like that thought, Jessie!" James said, mirroring her smirk as he took out his own Poké Ball.

"Prepare for trouble, twerp!"

"And make it double!"

"…Come back, Squirtle," Red said as he recalled Squirtle into his ball.

"A Squirtle along with a Charmeleon. Perhaps we'll take those Pokémon when we're done _crushing_ you," Jessie spoke as she released her Arbok.

"Don't forget that Pikachu with the crazy attack," James added as he sent out his Weezing.

Red began to shake and clutched his chest. "You'll pay for everyone you've hurt…! Everyone you've killed…! I'll make you pay for your crimes!"

The Rockets just laughed and began commanding their Pokémon: "Arbok, Glare!" "Weezing, Sludge!" The Arbok's eyes began to glow as it glared at Charmeleon. The Fire type became paralyzed and this gave the Weezing the chance belch out bad-smelling black gunk onto him. Charmeleon stumbled back as he tried to shake off the sludge. "Arbok, use Wrap on that Charmeleon!"

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" I zapped the Arbok before it could wrap around Charmeleon, stopping it in place. "Charmeleon, trap it with Fire Spin and use Cut!" Charmeleon breathed out a spiraling flame that exploded into a tornado of flame when it made contact with the serpent Pokémon. He then raised one of his arms and made a running start for the flaming Arbok.

"Block it, Weezing!" The Weezing got in-between Charmeleon and the Arbok. The Fire type slashed the Poison type with his claws, but it didn't seem to do much to it. "Smog!" The Weezing released black smoke from its many holes until it and Charmeleon were trapped in a thick smoke cloud. "And Tackle it!" In an instant, Charmeleon was sent flying out of the cloud of poisonous smoke.

At that moment, the spinning fire dispersed to reveal an upset Arbok. "Arbok, bite that Charmeleon!"

"Help out with Smokescreen, Weezing!" More thick smoke escaped from the Weezing's body, only it was enough to hide _everything_ from sight. I held my paws over my nose to try and block out the awful smell. With the smoke's thickness and the way it made my eyes water, I could barely make out Charmeleon or the Rocket's Pokémon.

"Charmeleon, Emb— No, Pikachu use Swift to stop that Weezing! Charmeleon, use Cut on Arbok when you see it!" Still trying to ignore the smell, I listened to Red and fired a barrage of stars with a flick of my tail at the Weezing-shaped outline I could see in the cloud. I guess the good thing about all this smoke meant that our opponents couldn't see us well either—although I'm not sure if my attack was even effective since the Weezing kept releasing smoke. In a few seconds, I heard the Arbok cry out, and I was surprised when I was suddenly knocked to the floor by the weight of the Arbok as it was swung around. I kept to the floor as the smoke began to clear up, revealing that Charmeleon was swinging around the Arbok by its tail.

"What are you doing, Arbok?! Use Wrap on that thing!" Jessie shouted seconds before Charmeleon released the Arbok and sent it flying at her. The red-haired Rocket ran out of the way and her Pokémon wound up getting tangled up in the grunts that had been standing behind her.

"Charmeleon, Dragon Rage on Arbok!" Charmeleon took a deep breath and sprayed bright blue flames onto the Arbok and the grunts, causing them all to scream out loud. When the fire faded away, that Arbok and Rockets were left charred and unconscious. "Nice work! Now heat up that Weezing with Fire Spin! Pikachu, help with Thunderbolt!" I zapped the Weezing with a bolt of electricity, paralyzing it before Charmeleon trapped it inside of a tornado of fire. After a few seconds, there was an explosion from within the fire tornado, and as embers fell to the floor, the Weezing dropped like a sack of rocks, completely smoking and unconscious. "Explosive gas threat solved," Red muttered.

"Only _him_ left now. We can take 'em!" I exclaimed before seeing how beat up Charmeleon looked and how his eye was twitching. "Um, Red?! Now would be a good time to—!" The Fire type took off running for the Rocket duo with his claw raised. Of course, he was still paralyzed from the look that Arbok gave him, and he wound up getting paralyzed in the middle of his run, causing him to trip and fall before he could even reach them. As he was about to get back up, Red returned him into his ball.

"Squirtle, it's your turn!" Squirtle was sent out in Charmeleon's place, now standing on his feet.

"ARRGH! This isn't happening! We are _not_ losing to some punk kid!" Jessie shouted as she and James returned their Pokémon into their balls. The red-haired woman took out another Poké Ball.

"Don't send out Meowth! He won't be able to handle them in his current state!" James exclaimed.

"If he can handle ghosts, he can handle a Pikachu and a Squirtle!" Jessie snapped before sending out Meowth in a flash of light. And I couldn't help but stare. He looked tired and exhausted. There were patches of red staining his fur and he had a black eye. Forget fighting—he didn't look like he should even be _walking_. The dazed way his eyes looked suggested that he wasn't even in good condition _mentally_ speaking. I felt bad for him when I probably shouldn't have.

"I doubt he'd be able to handle a _Magikarp_ in this state," said James.

"…Eh? You again?" Despite the way he looked, Meowth sounded upset. "Want me to tear up more of your friends like I did that Nidorino?"

"Go get them, Meowth! Mash them to the ground!" Jessie exclaimed.

Meowth's eyes began to glow bright blue as a vein pulsed on his forehead. In seconds, I found myself being forced to the floor by some unseen force along with Squirtle. "Since you're not smart enough to stay away, I'm just gonna _wipe you out_! You could've been this strong, too, if you hadn't chickened out and run away!"

"I…AM STRONG!" I screamed out as I unleashed a burst of electricity and zapped the cat Pokémon with a Thunderbolt. That seemed to force Meowth to stop whatever he was doing, because I was able to stand again. "And I'm _not_ a murderer like _you_ _are_!" I continued before spinning around and firing a Swift barrage from my tail. Meowth smirked as a vein popped up on his forehead again. The stars from my Swift attack were stopped in place and were fired back at me. The impact was hard enough to make me fall back.

"Squirtle, Bubble Beam! Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Red exclaimed. While still on the floor, Squirtle spat out a spray of sudsy water while I dashed towards Meowth. A vein popped up on the cat Pokémon's forehead once again, but instead of unleashing that seemingly psychic force, he held his paws to his head as if he was suffering from a headache. I was able to get behind Meowth and tackle him straight into the Bubble Beam, and when the force of that attack pushed him back, I used Slam to slap him in the back with my tail.

Meowth landed on all fours and growled. He whirled around and began scratching wildly at me, raking his claws across my body before he pounced and pinned me to the floor. "I'd rather _die_ than lose to _you_!" He hissed before biting down hard into my neck and digging his claws deep into my body. I cried out in pain as I instinctively shocked him. He buried his teeth deeper down into my neck and I shocked him once more, trying to make him get off of me. That seemed to make him stop and he wound up collapsing on top of me.

"That does it! Give that me that!" I heard James snap seconds before Meowth was enveloped in a bright light and disappeared. "If this thing dies, being bumped down to level 1 grunts would be the _least_ of our problems!"

"UGH! I can't _believe_ this! Beaten by a _kid_?!" I heard Jessie exclaim.

"Stew over the loss later! It's time to blast off!"

What came next was a bright light that blinded my already blurring vision. The pain from my scratches was getting to be too much. I fell unconscious to the sound of Red shouting at them to stop.

 **X-X-X**

When I came to, it was inside of our room at the Pokémon Center. I was lying down on the bed, and the only others in there were Squirtle and Charmeleon, who were sitting on the floor and attempting to work small television set on the other end of the room.

"Wait, wait! I think I saw Red! Go back a channel!" Squirtle exclaimed.

Charmeleon sighed in annoyance and glared at the turtle. "You know, we wouldn't have to do this if you didn't change the channel."

The TV was put on a channel showing Red and some old man in a suit talking and shaking his hand. Red looked terrified, like a Caterpie that had just been spotted by a hungry Pidgeotto. He wasn't saying a word, either, but he probably wouldn't have gotten a chance to when that old guy kept speaking so much and other voices kept chiming in. Little letters went across the bottom of the TV screen and I wished I knew how to read the human language. The image on the TV suddenly changed to show a man sitting behind a desk.

" _And with that, Team Rocket's misdeeds in the Pokémon Tower have been resolved. The tower has been closed off for the sake of purification and calming of the spirits within it, and afterwards, repairs will begin on its interior along with the addition of new graves dedicated to the Pokémon who died during this tragic affair. The Pokémon Tower is expected to be reopened within a week's time. In related news…"_

"I guess this means we won't be able to go and see Nidorino," Charmeleon said as the man on TV began talking about something else.

"That's a shame. I mean, for _you_ guys. I didn't know him," said Squirtle. "But hey! We were able to totally make those Rockets pay! I don't know about you, but it was _sweet_ revenge for me!"

"Why?"

"Because those crooks made me a freak of nature! They poked me with needles and made me fight to the brink of death! So beating them up made me feel _really good_! I can't wait to take them on again!"

"I don't. I don't want to have to see those people ever again if I have to," Charmeleon spoke in a timid manner that I hadn't heard in a while.

"I would think a battle-starved guy like you would be itching to beat those guys up."

"I…don't want Red to get hurt. I don't want _any_ of you to get hurt."

Squirtle seemed to flinch at those words and began rubbing the back of his head. "Oh! Uh… That's probably the nicest thing you've said since you became… _you_."

The door of the room opened and Red came in, looking exhausted. "I'm back…" He mumbled before walking over to the bed and plopping down on the end of it. I got up and walked over to his side. At the sight of me, he reached a hand down and stroked my head. "Have you been waiting for long? I thought it wouldn't take very long to be congratulated, but they made it into such a big deal…"

"Oh, yes. Risking our lives to protect people and a local monument _wasn't_ a big deal at all," Squirtle spoke sarcastically.

"Then I had to call my mother and explain to her why I was on TV. Naturally, she…gave me an earful." Red sighed and buried his face in his hands for a few seconds before looking up. "I met with Mr. Fuji, by the way."

"We found him all tied up on the top floor, along with a bunch of Cubone and Marowak that were still alive," Charmeleon explained to me.

"Including our troublesome Cubone," Squirtle added.

"He's a very nice man. He gave me a flute as a reward for saving the Pokémon Tower and protecting the Cubone and Marowak." Red reached into his bag and took something out. It was long and yellow and it had some round thing the color of a Poké Ball near the end. Red looked down at it dumbfounded. "He told me it'd be easy to play, but the only musical instrument I played was the tambourine." He put one end of the flute to his mouth and played it…poorly. A single sour note was played that made all the Pokémon in the room cringe. "…I'll have to work on it. But he said you could wake up even a sleeping Snorlax with this. It might be useful since everyone's saying it's the season for Snorlax to come down from the mountains and start sleeping anywhere they please."

"Yeah, you could just chase them away with your bad music-playing," I muttered after Red put it away.

"Cubone will be living at the volunteer house with some other orphaned Cubone. She's not exactly happy right now, because she's still in mourning over her mother. But Mr. Fuji is treating her well, and they seem to be getting along just fine." The boy smiled. "I hope she'll be able to get over her pain someday and be happy again." At that point, an image of the Pokémon Tower appeared on the TV screen. Red began to stare at it sadly. "But Nidorino… We won't be able to visit his grave for a while now. Honestly…I haven't even been able to figure out what I'll say when I see it. I don't even have the Moon Stone I planned to put on his grave. I must've lost it somewhere…"

"W-well, we could always come back to visit!" I exclaimed, hoping to cheer him up even if he couldn't understand me.

"Yeah. When there are no _ghosts_ or _criminals_ running around up there," Squirtle added.

After a few more seconds, Red pulled out a piece of paper from his bag and read it. I poked my head in through the opening between his arm and leg and stared at the colorful images on it. "There are two ways to Fuchsia City. To the south of Lavender Town are several routes leading to Fuchsia. If we could go to Saffron, then Celadon, and then go back to Lavender, we might be able to visit Nidorino's grave before going to Fuchsia." He folded up the paper again and stuffed it into his bag before falling back onto the bed and putting his head behind his head. "Anyway, this trip was a bust, wasn't it?"

I crawled onto the boy's stomach and laid down to stare at him. "Hm? Oh, right. We came here looking for ghosts to catch and training and wound up being heroes." And although I got to see Nidorino, it wasn't quite the way I wanted to. All in all, this trip _was_ a bust. "Stupid Blue," I muttered. "It's _his_ fault we're here in the first place…"

"But at least we managed to stop them this time, right? We managed to help a lot of people and put the spirits at ease. I wonder if Blue would believe me. …Well, I guess he'll hear of it eventually. It's just a matter of where he'll hear it from."

"Then we can rub it into his face!" I added. "Who cares if he has more badges? We've beaten ghosts and Team Rocket!"

At the mention of Team Rocket, my thoughts trailed off to Meowth. I remembered how he looked tired and sick, how beat up he looked. Team Rocket really weren't treating him very well. The way he looked reminded me of some of the Pokémon I'd seen while being experimented on by Team Rocket right before their bodies, weakened from experimentation and being pushed hard, just gave in. To think something like that might be happening to Meowth, but at the same time, he was so determined to become strong that he didn't seem to care—or maybe he just didn't notice. I hope _I_ never get to be like him in _any_ way.

I found myself crawling up to Red's chest and cuddling up close to his face. In response, he stroked my back gently. I was trying to forget about Meowth or the thought that maybe one day, I could end up just like him. It didn't help, and I still wound up having nightmares that night.

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes_

 **In Gen 1, Cubone can only be found in the Pokémon Tower—and in Yellow, the Safari Zone too. In Gen 2, they can be found in Rock Tunnel.**

 **In all the games it appears in, the Marowak ghost is not considered Ghost type.**

 **Some of Koffing's Pokédex entries state that its gases are explosive and that if exposed to heat, it may explode, so I assume the same goes for Weezing.**

 **Meowth cannot learn Psychic.**


	11. Chapter 11 - The Nature-Loving Princess

_Disclaimer : Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series_.

 _Chapter Summary : When he learns that the Saffron Gym still isn't open to challengers, Red is determined to get a gym badge from __**somewhere**_ _, which leads to him traveling to Celadon City to challenge the Grass type specialist Erika of the Celadon Gym!_

 **X-X-X**

I started the day with a start in a cold sweat, facing the window. It was still dark outside, not that I could really make out anything since my room was facing the brick wall of a building next to the Pokémon Center. I laid there in the dark, panting and gripping the bedsheets. This all started a few days ago, since the incident in Lavender Town. In my attempt to rid the Pokémon Tower of Team Rocket, I'd been possessed by a mother Marowak who died protecting her Cubone child. The memory of the events leading up to her death had been playing over and over in my mind every time I went to sleep. It wasn't horrifying, just…heart-breaking to know how she felt. Not that I could handle my dreams for the last two days ending with me dying.

I'd never completely erase that event from my mind obviously. But I hoped that I would at least be able to sleep peacefully again and soon. I had a gym to challenge in the morning, after all. I couldn't afford to fall asleep on my feet.

 _~Chapter 11: The Nature-Loving Princess~_

"It's _still_ closed?"

"Afraid so, kid. The gym leader is in the midst of some very serious psychic training!" said the man standing in the doorway of the Saffron Gym. "There's no telling when she'll be finished, so come by and check tomorrow!" The man started to stare at me for a few seconds before exclaiming, "OH! It's _you_! That kid I saw on the news a couple of days ago! You're the one who whopped Team Rocket somethin' good, ain'tcha?"

"N-no. I'm not," I lied, inching away from the door.

"Really? My mistake, then... If you wanna challenge another gym or two in the meanwhile, there're three in the cities to the north, west and south of Saffron."

"Thank you very much." Even though I already knew all of that. I quickly walked away from the Saffron Gym—almost ran, really.

These last couple of days, I would often run into people who recognized me from that one television report that had aired a few days ago. It made me very popular to say the least. I was a symbol for the people of Kanto, to let them know that they shouldn't back down and let Team Rocket do as they pleased. If I were like Blue, I would lavish the attention I was getting and get a big head from the admiration. But I disliked being the center of attention as much as I disliked sticking out in a bad way. Nails that stick up tend to get hammered down, after all. But I'm sure my 15 minutes of fame would eventually end and I could go back to traveling with little worries.

The important issue at the moment, though, concerned gym badges. I had been looking forward to battling the leader of the Saffron Gym since we left Lavender Town. I had been so sure that the amount of time it took for us to go back and forth between Saffron and Lavender Town would be enough to let the gym leader do whatever sort of intense training she had been doing, but apparently not.

"It looks like we have no choice," I told Pikachu, who was walking beside me. "We're going to have to go to Celadon City and challenge the gym leader there. Apparently, its specialty is Grass type Pokémon. Which means you and Squirtle won't be able to do much." Pikachu gave a cry of outrage and glared at me. "Now that I think about it, I don't really have a lot of Pokémon with attacks that aren't ineffective against Grass type Pokémon. I'll have to rely on Charmander with Bulbasaur as the trump card." I suddenly felt a shock go through my body and I looked down to see Pikachu's cheeks crackling with electricity. "Stop that. It's nothing personal. I didn't say I wouldn't use you at all." After all, who knew what sort of tactics the leader of the Celadon Gym had up their sleeve? "Oh! But first, I should see if I can get back Bulbasaur from Professor Oak. He's had more than enough time to study him, I'm sure. I'll send Squirtle in exchange for him to look at. I just hope Squirtle isn't too… _hostile_ towards the professor…"

 **X-X-X**

It took quite a while to calm Squirtle down when I told him I would be sending him over to Professor Oak for a while. I promised to get him _and_ Horsea back before challenging the Saffron Gym, while also making him promise not to bite anyone at the lab. Shortly after transferring Squirtle, I received Bulbasaur _and_ Horsea, which I guess meant that Squirtle would be among strangers over there. Both of them seemed pretty happy to be back, although Bulbasaur still refused to get close to Charmeleon.

After the reunion, we left Saffron City and headed west to Celadon City. We passed through Route 7, which was devoid of people to my relief. I spent most of the time walking slowly, searching in the trees and tall grass for any interesting Pokémon. We had an encounter with a Growlithe in the wild for the first time, which turned ugly when it turned out that it was part of a pack. Then we ran into some Abra a couple of times…or maybe it was the same one, since they all wound up teleporting away. After that, we encountered a Jigglypuff, whose very first action was to sing a lullaby strong enough to put both Pikachu and I to sleep. By the time we woke up, the sun was setting and my things—including my hat—were in the middle of being ransacked by wild Mankey. By the time we were able to get everything back, night had fallen and we decided we'd be safer staying on the dirt path.

Eventually, the dirt path became a concrete road, and I knew we had set foot in Celadon City. Soon, the trees were replaced by tall buildings with brightly lit signs. The moment I saw a Pokémon Center, I made a beeline for it. I'd challenge the gym tomorrow, but tonight, I just wanted to sleep in a comfortable bed and recover from the events of today. But to my surprise, the Pokémon Center was packed. Dozens, maybe even about a _hundred_ people were in the lobby alone, all crowding the service counters. I made the mistake of standing in the doorway, and I was almost swept up in the wave of incoming trainers while Pikachu was nearly trampled.

"LISTEN UP!" The voice of one of the Pokémon Center staff shouted through the scratchy-sounding PA system. "If you are here to have your Pokémon healed, please form an orderly line and you will be attended to as quickly as possible! If you wish to rent a room for the night, I'm sorry, but we have no more free rooms."

Almost immediately, there were cries of outrage from the waiting trainers. I was too stunned to respond the same way. Never did I think about what I would do if a Pokémon Center had no rooms. Sure, I had a simple tent to sleep in, just in case I was unable to make it to a town for whatever reason, but this wasn't the sort of situation I was prepared. I walked out of the building and began to look around. If I wasn't able to stay at the Pokémon Center, I would have to find some affordable hotel or motel to spend the night in—before I was forced to sleep in a dirty alleyway.

 **X-X-X**

From what I observed while wandering around, there were many places to see, all promoted by signs and billboards: a department store, a game corner, a botanical garden, a four star theater, and perhaps some other things that I missed in my search for a vacant room. So far, Celadon had been the liveliest place I visited on my trip across Kanto. I just hoped that wouldn't make it hard to sleep here.

I eventually stumbled upon a hotel. It was bigger than the Pokémon Center was, being several stories tall. I imagined that the beds would be unimaginably soft, that there'd be an indoor Jacuzzi, and that I'd be able to order room service at the drop of a hat. Not that the standard of rooming in a Pokémon Center was low, but a fancy-looking place like this _had_ to be among the best. Even the sign outside said they were a four star hotel. So I was eager to go in and check myself into a room.

But with all my high hopes, reality came crashing back in with the thought of money. A fancy hotel, let alone a _four star-rated hotel_ , wouldn't be cheap. I dared to look at the amount of money I had left and sighed. I wish I battled more wealthy people whose idea of chump change could keep my finances steady for the rest of my journey. Did I even have enough for a cheap motel? I didn't have time to think more on that because my stomach began to growl. I hadn't had a thing to eat since the morning, and those Mankey we met ate _my_ lunch along with my Pokémon's food. I had to make a decision: physical comfort or sustenance.

The additional growling of Pikachu's stomach—which was a lot louder than you'd expect from such a small creature—practically made up my mind. I sighed again as I looked down at Pikachu. "I hope you haven't gotten too used to sleeping in a bed, 'cuz it looks like we're roughing it for tonight," I spoke unenthusiastically. It was hard _to_ be enthusiastic when one thought of possible threats: either Pokémon, people, or the very forces of nature. "Let's go get something to eat before we look for a place to sleep…"

 **X-X-X**

I bought Pokémon food from a small local shop in the southern part of the city before I went to a nearby greasy spoon so _I_ could get something to eat. The Cinnabar Volcano burgers they made weren't as good as the kind Mom made, but I was hungry and even a cheap hamburger was a nice change from just eating store-bought sandwiches.

Afterwards, Pikachu and I wound up wandering around town in search of a proper place to sleep. If my mother knew I was going to sleep out in the streets mere days after confronting wanted criminals, she'd probably think I was crazy or demand that I come home right this instant. I tried to look on the bright a tiny bit, but I wound up getting lost in my thoughts while thinking hard about what could _possibly_ be a bright side in this situation.

Pikachu's loud cry of awe snapped me out of my thoughts. When I was aware of our surroundings, I could see why. We had been walking past a large building that practically lit up the entire place with its bright neon lights. I almost felt compelled to close my eyes before I got used to the brightness of it all. The light came from the large sign on top of the building made up of flashing lights, bringing attention to the name _'Rocket Game Corner'_.

"A game corner? Is that like an arcade? I've never been to one of those…" Not that they _had_ anything like that in Pallet Town. I watched a man get thrown out of the place by a big, baldheaded man. He tried to get back in, but the big man punched him in the face and knocked him out. "Then again, maybe that isn't the sort of place I want to be in…. Let's go, Pikachu." As I turned to leave, I wound up walking into someone. "Sorry. I didn't. Oh! Green!"

Green stood in front of me, looking pretty surprised. "Huh?" A smirk was suddenly placed on her face. "Well, if it isn't Mr. Hero! I'm surprised you're not surrounded by a group of fans or something."

"Fans? Um, no. I didn't think I'd run into you again so soon. I'm glad, though. Lemme give you back those goggles you have me." I took out the goggles from my bag and handed them to Green.

The girl looked at me in confusion. "Seriously? You wanna give 'em back?"

"Well, you made me promise to. I wanted to keep that promise. And anyway, just like you, I don't think I wanna be in a situation where I have to see more ghosts…"

"Huh. Well _I_ don't wanna be caught with 'em— I mean, _wear_ 'em. I think I know how to dispose of these." She gestured with a single finger to follow her, which I did. We headed left of the Rocket Game Corner until we reached in front of a pond. The water looked murky, and some sort of sludge and slime covered the surface. It seemed to be coming out of a pipe, which was connected to the concrete wall surrounding the pond. In terms of looks, it was an ugly contrast to the small garden of flowers that had been grown on the plot of land opposite of us. Green casually tossed the device into the water.

"Huh? Why would you do _that_?" I asked. Who just threw a high-tech item like that into the water?

"Personal reasons. Anyway, you didn't want it and _I_ certainly didn't, so what's the problem?"

"But it seems like such a waste…" The water rippled as some Grimer and Muk rose to the surface, their slimy purple bodies tinged green from the pollution. They gave us annoyed looks before sinking back down. To think I'd see a place that was so polluted that it could have Pokémon born of pollution in it.

The brunette scoffed before turning around to look at me. "Anyway, what could a good little boy like you be doing outside so late at night?"

"We're looking for a place to spend the night outdoors," I answered honestly.

Green arched an eyebrow. "Outdoors? What, you can't find a place to stay?" I answered with a shake of my head. "What sort of bigtime hero sleeps outdoors like a dirty hiker?" The kind who didn't have enough money to feed himself and his Pokémon _and_ pay for a room at a fancy hotel. She pursed her lips and ran her fingers through her hair. "…Well, if you've got nowhere to sleep, you can stay at my place."

"Huh?! You don't mind?" I asked.

"W-well, I'd feel bad if I didn't try to help a celebrity…"

"I'm no celebrity."

"Whatever. Just accept my kindness, will ya? Oh, and don't think you're allowed to try anything funny." Green put her hands on her hips and tapped her cheek with her finger. "I'm sure you'll find it painstakingly hard…" I could only stare in confusion, not sure what she meant. Her smirk fell and she seemed annoyed. "…Just follow me."

 **X-X-X**

Green led us to a tall building with four floors. A plaque that was part of the wall's exterior said that this was the Celadon Condominiums. "You live here with your parents?" I asked.

"Nope. Just me."

"Oh?" I thought she had to be around my age—maybe two years older than me at the most. I didn't know anyone so young who lived completely by themselves.

Green guided Pikachu and I up flights of stairs, taking a moment to point out things like, "This is where the building manager lives. A nice lady, but she doesn't get that I hate tea" or "There's a bunch of guys living in there who are making a game." She didn't know any of the people here closely or person. She couldn't even really remember their names. "I haven't even been living here for a month. Don't mark me off as stuck up just yet." I wasn't going to. I hadn't even said anything suggesting I would.

"So is Celadon City your hometown, or—?"

"I'm from an island down south."

"Cinnabar?"

"Further south." But there were _many_ islands to the south. In school, we learned about the Sevii Islands and the Orange Islands, a few desert islands that contained nothing but old ruins. "I could tell you which one, but it doesn't matter. It's in the past." And I assumed that was that on the subject of hometowns, so I didn't push it any further.

"What made you want to live in Celadon?" I asked.

"My job."

"What's your job?"

"Doesn't matter. I quit a while ago."

"…Would your job have anything to do with that device you threw away a while ago?" Green stopped walking and looked back at me. I could swear that she was glaring for a second, but then her expression became neutral. "I just found it strange that you chose to throw them away. The frugal trainer would sell something they don't really need any longer so they could make money off of it." From his place on my shoulder, Pikachu looked at me in confusion.

"…Well, I'm _not_ frugal. When I see something I like, I _take_ it. And if I decide I don't like what I took, then I just get rid of it! So quit grilling me, Mr. Perfect before I take back my act of good will and let you sleep out in the cold!" I clammed up after that outburst.

Eventually, we made it to the roof, where there was a single apartment crowning the entire building. " _This_ is your apartment?" I asked.

"What about it?" Green sounded bitter with me.

"It's really impressive." Even if this was a small place with only four floors, penthouse apartments and rooftops on TV always belonged to rich, important people. Maybe the reason why Green was able to live alone in an apartment building was simply that she had enough money to convince the landlady that it was okay. It was _how_ she might have gotten the money that stuck in my mind.

"…Thanks. I got it for a steal." She took out a key and unlocked the door. She walked in, gesturing for me to follow. The place was furnished with only the bare necessities: a bed in one back corner, a kitchen area in the other, a table in the middle of the room, and a TV that had a loveseat in front of it. "The last person who owned this place last disappeared. The landlady says that it's because he kept flaunting his Eevee everywhere."

"Oh…" If she saw something she liked, she _took_ it. Did she really mean that? Did she do something to the person who once owned this apartment? I shouldn't have thought that because Green didn't seem like a killer, but still…

"Lucky for me, he left all his stuff here and the landlady was too lazy to have it thrown out. I just had to sell some of his things to make room for mine!"

"You…didn't feel bad about just moving into his apartment like that?"

The brunette shrugged and said, "It stopped being _his_ apartment when he didn't pay his rent on time. _Why_ he missed payment has nothing to do with it." She then pointed over to a room in the back, which she said was the bathroom, and that she was going to take a bath. "I'd tell you not to look, but I get the feeling that you wouldn't be interested," she muttered, almost sounding disappointed before going in and locking the door behind her.

I decided to just sit on the loveseat and simply wait for my turn. Pikachu, not understanding proper manners, scampered over to Green's bed and curled up on top of it. Now that I thought about it, the only person I had a sleepover with was Blue, and that felt like _ages_ ago. Green was a _girl_ , though. Sleeping in the same room as a girl was probably very different.

I hoped that I wouldn't offend her enough to get kicked back out onto the streets.

"Your turn." I looked up and froze at the sight of Green wearing a towel. I must have been staring at her for too long, because she said, "Oh~? Could you finally be seeing something you like? Yeah, right…" She walked over to a dresser and began taking some clothes out of a drawer. I took that opportunity to briskly walk into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind me with a bit _too_ much force.

"D-did she do that on purpose?! Was she trying to tease me?!" If I could take that as a hint for how the night would go, I feared the worse…

 **X-X-X**

And the following day, I realized my fears were for nothing. The night passed without any other embarrassing moments. Pikachu and I had to sleep on the loveseat because, as far as Green was concerned, letting me stay with her was generous enough. The worst thing that happened was the backache I got from sleeping on the loveseat. Otherwise, the night was uneventful.

The morning, however, was different. I woke up to find Green staring at me with a serious expression on her face. When I asked her what the matter was, she said that it was nothing and went about her business, only to do it again a moment later. And she kept doing it until after I finished dressing, when she shoved something into my chest while saying, "Here, take this." It was some sort of dark stone. "It's your Moon Stone. I took it from you on the S.S. Anne."

"You…stole from me?"

Green looked a bit embarrassed. "I-it's not like _you_ were gonna use it when your Pokémon—! I mean, you would probably just _sell it_! It's not like I _intended_ to steal that from you! I just wanted to take _something_ from your bag!"

I just stared at her, utterly speechless. I'd been blaming myself for losing Nidorino's Moon Stone, and here I learn that it was _stolen_ from me. By a person who, as odd as she seemed, I thought I could trust. "You stole from me," I found myself repeating.

"So now you understand that I'm an evil person who goes around taking people's things. You're the only person whose stuff I've bothered to return."

I looked down at the Moon Stone. It didn't have that light inside of it that looked like a star in the night sky. "…You used it."

"I didn't _mean_ to! It just _happened_! I didn't know that Nidorina could…"

That was the moment I shut out her words. The anger was welling up inside of me. It wasn't about her using the Moon Stone or about the stone's rarity. It was about her taking something that served as a memento of Nidorino and a reminder of what happened at Mt. Moon because I was too inexperienced of a trainer. That light in the darkness of the stone…I think I'd come to think of it like a metaphor for hope in the darkest of times. And now it was gone, used to create a Nidoqueen.

I had to leave. I _had_ to. If I stayed there any longer, I'd explode and all sorts of awful thoughts would eek out of my mind and into Green's. And as much as I hated the fact that she stole from me, I couldn't hate Green herself enough to subject her to _that_ —to the unnatural thing that was _me_. Because if she was a truly evil person, she wouldn't have helped me in the Pokémon Tower or given me back the stone. She wasn't like Team Rocket. She had a _conscience_.

That's why she looked so sad when I walked out of her apartment with Pikachu and my things and slammed the door behind me. I purposely left the Moon Stone behind with her. I wanted her to remember what she did.

 **X-X-X**

I heard a questioning noise come from Pikachu as he sat on my shoulder. We'd left the Celadon Condominiums a while ago, and I had been sitting on a bench in front of the Celadon Mall for what felt like ages, getting my mind right and calming down. I couldn't fight the Gym Leader in an upset state of mind. I had to be focused on the challenge to come.

"Don't be worried. I'm fine." I didn't try to smile to show that everything was okay. I knew I wouldn't pull it off. Instead, I stood up, took a deep breath, and began walking forward. "Let's ask around for the Celadon Gym. Hopefully we'll be able to find it before it gets too dark."

 **X-X-X**

My search for the Celadon Gym was…a confusing one. When I asked women about it, they'd give me dirty looks and call me things like _'little pervert'_ and say I have no shame. When I asked men about it, they'd go all red in the face and start giggling about something as if they knew an inside joke. It wasn't until I came across a kid around my age that I not only got decent directions, I got him to show me the way to the actual building.

"Grass type Pokémon are sooo cool! I've been trying to get into the gym so I could train under the Gym Leader—her name's Erika, by the way. But they won't let me. I have no idea why. Is it because I have a Paras? Grass types and Bug types are mortal enemies, but he's part-Grass, so I don't know why he wouldn't be allowed. I mean, they're weak to Poison types, too—Grass Pokémon, I mean—but there are _lots_ of Grass type Pokémon that are part-Poison!"

"Um… Yes. That is a shame," I told the young Grass type enthusiast.

Eventually, we came to the gym. It was a large building with a roof made of clear glass—so the flowers, plants and Grass type Pokémon inside could benefit from plenty of sunlight. The walls were covered in climbing ivy and there were rows of flowers in long pots and flower bushes. The sign promoting it as the Celadon City Gym was even decorated with flowers. But the thing that stuck out the most were the gang of men staring into the gym with lecherous faces.

"What…are they doing?" I couldn't help asking out loud.

"I dunno. They always do that whenever I come to join the gym. Old people are _weird_ …" The youngster turned to look at me. "Anyway, good luck at the gym! You'll need it! Grass types are no joke, y'know!" He said goodbye and left me among the plants and the perverts outside of the gym.

"…Pikachu. Thunder Shock," I said as I pointed to the perverts. The electric mouse charged up, building electricity that crackled loudly around him. The men were too busy staring into the gym to hear what was going on behind them before they got shocked with enough electricity to knock them unconscious. "Old people really _are_ weird," I muttered to myself before I walked up the dirt path and entered the gym.

The gym's interior was just as green and flower as its exterior. A row of bushes and small trees blocked my view from the moment I entered and tickled my nose with their mixing scents. There were even parts of the floor that weren't floor, but grass, with the cobblestone material of the floor forming a path that, I assumed, led to Erika, the gym leader.

I took a few steps forward to determine which way I should go, but I was startled by a girl crying out, "Hold it right there!" My arm was grabbed tightly by a girl wearing a scout uniform and glaring at me as if I had done something wrong. "No boys allowed! So _get out_!" And she started to try pushing me back out the door.

"W-wait! I'm here to challenge the leader of the Celadon Gym!" I explained as I struggled to hold back. It wasn't exactly hard since the girl was about as strong as I was.

"Ha! That's what they all say!"

"No! Really! I have badges! I'll show them to you!"

"You just wanna stare at us like a pervert, don't you?!"

"That's not why I'm here! Why don't you _listen_ to me?!"

"Ugh! Paras, use Spore on him!" I hadn't seen the Paras that was at the girl's feet until I looked down. The tiny mushrooms on its small red body shook, releasing a bright yellow powder in the process. The powder covered me and Pikachu, and I quickly became drowsy and fell asleep.

 **X-X-X**

When I came to, it was to the pain of Pikachu biting down hard on my arm, outside on the hard path outside of the Celadon Gym. I sat up and glared at the gym. "This is ridiculous…! Don't tell me they won't let me in just because I'm a _boy_!" I could endure teasing gym trainers or being challenged before fighting the leader themselves, but being outright kicked out without even a _single_ Pokémon battle? That was unfair… "I think if we want a chance at challenging Erika, we'll have to sneak inside and find her ourselves."

I wasn't a bad child at heart. I'd never done something quite like breaking in before. If my mother knew what I was doing, lurking around a gym that was presumably made up of only female trainers, her thoughts would leap to me having perverted desires. But all I wanted was a fair battle. That's what I told myself when Pikachu found an open window and we climbed into the gym, barely avoiding the plants that had been set down in front of it.

Now we had a _bigger_ problem: navigating the maze of plants and trees that was the Celadon Gym interior and finding Erika while avoiding detection. It was almost like the games of hide-and-seek I had with Blue when we were kids. Only losing this game might get more than my pride hurt.

I snuck between the rows of trees and bushes, warily sticking my head out to check for any girls walking around before making my way further into the building. Every once in a while, I thought I was being spotted. My fears were confirmed when I started hearing girls whispering about finding a boy who snuck in there. It was only after I hid myself in a circle of flower bushes to avoid a pair of girls that I realized I had no idea what Erika even looked like. I assumed I would be able to tell her apart from the gym trainers who trained under her—people like Brock, Misty and Lt. Surge seemed to have this vibe that separated them from those in their gym.

I continued to wander until I reached a small garden area. It had ground was covered in grass that had several colorful flowers in bloom and a couple of berry trees with fruit hanging from their branches. Some Grass type Pokémon were lying on the ground with their eyes closed—either because they were asleep or were simply lounging in the sunlight. In the middle of the little flower garden was a sleeping woman. She had short black hair and wore a red headband, a yellow kimono top decorated in green Poké Balls with a dark red hakama skirt. Something about her serene-looking face as she slept made her seem pretty to me. Deciding not risk the chance of her waking up, I tried to sneak through a doorway that led to another part of the gym.

"Hello there." I _tried_ because I was caught by the sleeping woman, who decided _just then_ to wake up. I slowly turned around to see the woman sitting up and smiling at me. "May I ask what you're doing here?"

"You…aren't going to throw me out?"

"That depends. Are you here for illicit deeds?" The woman asked me.

Of course I wasn't going to say that I practically snuck into the building. So I said, "I came to challenge the gym leader Erika to a battle for a gym badge…ma'm. Do you think I could see her…ma'm?"

The kimono-clad woman smiled and stood up. "How fortunate for you, then. I didn't mean to doze off here, but the weather was so pleasant. I couldn't help falling asleep as I was tending to the plants." She turned to caress the leaves of a tree. "Plants are such delicate things. To survive, they need just the right amount of water, the right kind of soil, the right kind of temperature and weather…things that we people don't really think about." I stared at her in confusion until she finally remembered that I existed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that you wished to challenge me."

"…Are you Erika?"

"Yes. I am Erika, the leader of the Celadon Gym. I teach the art of flower arranging and my specialty is Grass type Pokémon. I shall not lose." She said that as serenely as she spoke about plants and the weather. At least in terms of personality, she was a breath of fresh air compared to Lt. Surge.

 **X-X-X**

Erika took me to the back of the gym. The ground of the battlefield was covered in grass, and flowers somehow had been planted in such a pattern that they took on the shape of a Poké Ball. After waiting a few minutes, Erika came striding up to her side of the battlefield, her hands held together and looking more like a demure old-fashioned woman than a gym leader. "So sorry to have kept you waiting. Picking the right team for a Pokémon battle is like picking the right flowers for a floral arrangement. They each bring out each other's potential beauty."

"…What are the rules for this battle?" I asked. I didn't even try to wrap my head around her flower analogy.

"We will use three Pokémon each. The first one to have three Pokémon unable to battle will be the loser. Understood?" I nodded. I had already decided which three I would use. Erika smiled and unfolded her hands to reveal a Poké Ball. "Very well. For my first Pokémon, I choose Tangela!" With a simple click of her ball, a Tangela appeared on the grassy battlefield. It danced in place for a few seconds, kicking up its red boot-like feet and shaking its body of thick purple vines. "You like the sun, don't you, Tangela?" Erika said with a giggle.

I wanted to save Charmeleon for Erika's ace. Tangela was a pure Grass type, so the best alternative would be Bulbasaur. I sent the Seed Pokémon out onto the battlefield, where he stared at the dancing Tangela. Pikachu was already cheering for his teammate. "Bulbasaur, use Poison Gas!" I commanded, pointing a finger forward. His bulb shuddered seconds before releasing a cloud of noxious purple gas so thick that it should've obscured vision. "Now use Tackle!"

"Bind." With a simple command from Erika, dozens of vines shot out from the Tangela's body. They wrapped around Bulbasaur and raised him high up into the air. "Slam." And with another command, it slammed Bulbasaur down on the ground with such force that I swore he made an imprint. Bulbasaur tried to get out of the Tangela's grip, squirming after it flinched from poisoning. "Bind again."

"Use Acid on its vines!" Bulbasaur's bulb shuddered before spraying acid onto several of the Tangela's vines. The acid burned enough to make the Vine Pokémon release Bulbasaur and retract its vines.

"A Bulbasaur that can use Acid… Quite the toxic little flower bud…" Erika commented. "Vine Whip."

"Counter it!"

Despite the paralysis slowing him down, Bulbasaur's vines extended out from under his bulb in time to struggle with the Tangela's own. He managed to wrap his two vines around the Tangela's half-dozen vines, leaving them at a bit of a deadlock as they both tugged on their own ends. After a minute of pulling and tugging, Bulbasaur not only overpowered the Tangela and pulled it down to the ground, but he managed to snap off its vines as well.

"Oh, dear. A few of your vines broke. At least you have plenty more," said Erika. About a half dozen more vines extended from the mass covering her Tangela's body, then they sped towards Bulbasaur.

"Cut them down with Razor Leaf!" From beneath his bulb, a flurry of razor sharp leaves flew out and cut down the Tangela's vines before they hit its main body. Of course, being a Grass type, the Tangela wasn't really fazed by the attack and the vines were once again replaced by another set.

"Slam." All six of the Tangela's vines were raised in the air and one by one, they fell with the intention of striking down Bulbasaur. The Seed Pokémon sidestepped and jumped to avoid the first three vines, but he wasn't able to evade the fourth one, which pinned him on the ground long enough for the remaining two to slam down on top of Bulbasaur with little resistance.

"Use Acid!" Although those vines covered his bulb, Bulbasaur was still able to spray acid up into the air. It poured down like rain on the battlefield, hitting the Tangela's vines as well as its main body. Bulbasaur was hit as well, but he was unaffected by the acid and able to slip out from under the Tangela's vines. "Tackle!" The Seed Pokémon lowered his head and charged forward while his opponent was busy reeling from the effects of the poison and the acid. He tackled into the walking mass of vines with enough force to send it rolling backwards. It stopped on its back and showed no signs of getting up.

"Ah. It would appear as if Tangela is unable to battle. That is a win for you." Erika spoke calmly as she returned her Tangela. She then unfolded her hands to reveal another Poké Ball. "For my next Pokémon, I choose Victreebel!" With another simple click, she sent out her next Pokémon. Her Victreebel appeared on the field, its lips blue-colored, its leafy parts dull green, and its main bell-shaped body a sickly shade of green. It seemed to sparkle in the sunlight long after the light it was summoned with had faded. "Do you like my Victreebel? The blue of its lips really catches the eye, and it creates a most intoxicating honey-like scent." The Victreebel shrieked and flapped its leaves.

A Victreebel had the same typing as Bulbasaur. They would both resist each other's Poison and Grass type attacks, but unlike Bulbasaur, the Flycatcher Pokémon had the benefit of being fighting fit. "Bulbasaur. You did a good job. Now take a rest," I said as I recalled Bulbasaur into his ball. I looked down at Pikachu. "Pikachu, you're up." The electric mouse eagerly jumped off of my shoulder and landed on the battlefield. I wanted to stick with my plan of saving Charmeleon for the final hurdle, so I was counting on Pikachu to win this matchup.

"An Electric type against a Grass type is disadvantageous."

"We're not at a disadvantage."

Erika smiled serenely before she raised a hand. "Growth." The Victreebel cried out as it spread out its leaves. Its body glowed bright white for a few seconds before the light faded. "Now, Acid puddles!" The Flycatcher Pokémon's body shuddered before spitting up an eruption of golden yellow liquid. It rained down onto the battlefield, creating puddles of acid that sat in various places, and the Victreebel itself was conveniently surrounded by a moat. "And Razor Leaf!" The Grass type spun around in place and unleashed a flurry of leaves at Pikachu.

"Burn them with Thunderbolt!" Pikachu's cheeks crackled with electricity before he unleashed a bolt of electricity large enough to fry most of the oncoming leaves. "Now, Thunder Wave!"

"Poison Powder."

Just as Pikachu unleashed a stream of electricity just powerful enough to paralyze, the Victreebel spat up purple pollen that fell down slowly onto the field. There was so much that Pikachu was unable to dodge, and he couldn't help breathing in the poisonous powder.

"Now I suppose _we_ will be the ones who'll let the poison do most of the work," said Erika. "Acid." Her Pokémon sprayed up more thick yellow acid. It curved in an arc, like water from a fountain, and threatened to fall on top of Pikachu seconds before he darted out of the way, only to step into puddle of acid. He cried out in pain before stumbling out of the puddle, only to have his tail dipped into another. "Now pounce! Use Cut!" With an ease that really _shouldn't_ have belonged to a paralyzed creature, the Victreebel leapt towards Pikachu, closing the distance between them quite easily before spinning around and slashing the Mouse Pokémon with its leaves. "Keep going!"

"Double Team!" I shouted out. Pikachu recovered in time to narrowly jump over the Victreebel's leaves and dart past it. He began to jump over puddles, creating copies behind him as he did. Eventually, a half-dozen Pikachu were jumping around, confounding the bigger Pokémon with their agility. "Midair Swift!" All six of them jumped up at the same time to unleash a ray of stars at the Victreebel at the same time.

"Razor Leaf." The Grass type spun around, unleashing a flurry of leaves all around it. The leaves went through the fake stars and Pikachu, but the real set were mostly destroyed. "There it is! Wrap!" The Victreebel's tail lashed out and extended towards the real Pikachu. It wrapped around him before pulling him in closer, holding Pikachu over its wide blue mouth.

Pikachu began to squirm in the Victreebel's grip. His cheeks crackled with electricity seconds before he shocked his captor. It didn't really do much damage, and the Victreebel only tightened its grip on him.

"Shall we just squeeze the life out of it, or wait for the poisoning to knock it out?" Erika looked like she was seriously thinking about her options, tapping her cheek thoughtfully. "No, I'm not that cruel. Continue to constrict it!"

The Victreebel continued tightening its grip until it suddenly stilled. Finally, it seemed as if it had succumbed to paralysis. Pikachu took the opportunity to squirm out from the Flycatcher Pokémon's grasp. He almost into it, but grabbed onto its blue mouth. "I wonder… Pikachu, strike its insides with Swift!" Pikachu smirked as he climbed up a bit more. Seconds later, the attack appeared to damage the Victreebel's sensitive insides, because it began to flail in pain just as Pikachu jumped off of it and landed on a safe patch of grass. "Once again, use Swift!" He jumped into the air with a flip and fired a ray of stars at the Victreebel, knocking it over for a few seconds.

"Victreebel, Razor Leaf!" Erika commanded just as her Pokémon bounced back into its upright position. With a gesture of its leaves, dozens of sharpened leaves were fired at Pikachu. On reflex, he destroyed most with a large burst of electricity, but faltered seconds afterward. "If I had to guess, your Pokémon is on its last legs because of the poisoning," the gym leader observed. "Just a little more and we'll be tied 1-to-1. Acid."

"Dodge and strike with Quick Attack!" I spoke quickly. Managing to recover despite the fatigue, Pikachu jumped over a puddle of acid to avoid the following spurts of anymore corrosive liquids. He leaped across the puddles a yellow blur, getting closer to the Victreebel. Once he was close enough, he lunged forward, tackled headfirst into it, but the Flycatcher Pokémon's tail lashed out and wrapped around Pikachu tightly before he could try to avoid it. Pikachu cried out in pain before he stopped moving. I sighed before taking out Pikachu's ball and returning him into it. "You did well. Way to go," I whispered to his Poké Ball before putting it away and taking out Charmeleon's ball. I made sure to release the Fire type onto a patch of land free of acid puddles, but he was still surrounded.

"A Charmeleon. I'm surprised it took you so long to send out such an obvious boon against a Grass type specialist," said Erika.

"Charmeleon, Fire Spin!" I shouted, causing Charmeleon to spray the Victreebel with a spiraling flame. Upon contact, a tornado of flames surrounded the Grass type and made it cry out in pain. When the tornado faded away, the Victreebel fell over, lightly charred, smoking and unconscious.

"Well, it seems as if I'm down to my last Pokémon," Erika said as she returned her Victreebel and took out another Poké Ball. "It's time for the piece de resistance!" In a flash of light, she released a Gloom onto the battlefield.

"It's…a Gloom?" It almost seemed a bit underwhelming—a second-stage Pokémon being her ace after facing down the completely evolved Victreebel. But then again, I should know by now that stages don't have anything to do with being the stronger Pokémon in the end.

"What makes a flower like Gloom shine is not her appearance, but her captivating scent. It draws one's attention to her whether they want it or not." Erika had that last part right. A person or Pokémon had to lack a sense of smell in order to not notice a Gloom due to their infamous stench. "Even a Fire type cannot help but be stricken with awe of Gloom." Awe's not the right word to describe it. "But Gloom is strong as well as appealing to the nose." Erika began to smirk in a way that didn't suit her. "Sleep Powder." The ball-shaped petals of Gloom's flower shuddered before it released light green powder into the air. The powder wafted over to Charmeleon and breathing them in made him fall asleep. The Fire type collapsed and fell asleep on his feet. Now use Solar Beam!" The pistil in the middle of Gloom's flower began to glow and particles of green light appeared in the air above it.

"Charmeleon, wake up!" I called out, but it did no good. "Please, wake up!" Solar Beam may have been a Grass type move, but it was still pretty strong. And it wasn't as if Gloom's appearance hinted at how powerful its attacks could be. He had to wake up before it was finished gathering energy to attack him. I took a deep breath and shouted loudly, "CHARMELEON!" He still remained asleep, although this time, he slumped forward.

I watched as the Gloom positioned itself for its flower to face Charmeleon. The pistil in the middle was now brightly glowing with the same green energy that had been floating in the air a while ago. With a dull-sounding cry that didn't match the attack use, a wide beam of bright green energy was fired at Charmeleon and certainly had no trouble hitting an unmoving target. The explosive force had pushed the lizard Pokémon back into a puddle of acid.

Whether it was the burning sting of the acid or the blow from the Solar Beam, Charmeleon's eyes snapped open and he began to roar. He flailed about in the puddle before crawling out and glaring at the Gloom. Before I could command him, the Flame Pokémon charged forward. "Wait, stop!" Despite my commands, he ran through the puddles of acid, ignoring the pain as he zeroed in on his target.

A scent isn't something a human being can see naturally, but the scent the Gloom released with a cry of fear appeared to be thick and yellowish-green. The scent wafted over to Charmeleon, who, upon meeting it head-on, suddenly stopped in his tracks. After a few seconds of sniffing, the Fire type began to gag and covered his snout. The smell of Gloom had apparently been strong enough to knock him out of his frenzy and send him running back over to my side of the battlefield, coughing wildly.

"When a Gloom is frightened, they release a strong fragrance. The more frightened they are, the stronger it gets," Erika explained with a smile. "For some, it's so strong that they can't focus on fighting. It's that soothing."

"Soothing? More like it's _flinching_ ," I muttered quietly to myself. I could smell the Gloom from where I was standing and I had to wonder how much worse it would be if I was closer to the source. Regardless the smell wasn't a problem. Charmeleon's most effective attacks would be his fire moves, which should be able to cover enough distance to harm the Gloom. "Charmeleon, Fire Spin!" Once he recovered from the foul smell of Gloom, Charmeleon took a breath and sprayed out a spiraling flame. But amazingly enough, the Gloom dodged the attack with the nimbleness of a prancing ballerina, leaping out of the way before the flames could hit it. Charmeleon fired another spiraling flame, but the Gloom jumped out of the way of that one as well, landing in the portions of the field that weren't covered in acidic puddles with ease.

"You don't really think Gloom will stay still and allow your Charmeleon to burn her up, do you?" Erika asked. "Now Gloom, use Sleep Powder." Her Pokémon released more green powder into the air.

"Burn it!" Charmeleon spat out flames that burned away the powder before it could touch him. "Now use Dragon Rage on that Gloom!" The Flame Pokémon threw his head back before breathing out a steady stream of bright blue flames. The Gloom frantically ran away and jumped at a speed I didn't expect of a Gloom. Either Erika trained her Pokémon to be this fast or Grass types were quicker than I thought.

"Gloom, use Petal Dance!" The Gloom jumped up, dodging the blue flames. It began to spin in midair, its body taking on a bright pink aura. A large amount of pink petals swirled around the Grass type before they went for Charmeleon.

"Counter with Fire Spin!" At my command, the Fire type breathed out some flames, but the flurry of petals broke through the flames and dispersed them before hitting Charmeleon with enough force to knock him down. Before Charmeleon could recover from the first assault, the Gloom landed on the ground and twirled once more, sending another flurry of petals at him. Charmeleon was pushed back by the second Petal Dance into a puddle of acid, agitating the minor injuries he'd received.

The Gloom landed face first on the ground afterwards. When it stood up, its usually closed eyes were wide open, revealing the confused look in its blank red eyes. "Excellent work, Gloom! It shouldn't take much to knock it out now," said Erika. "Use Acid!" The Weed Pokémon was unsteady on its feet. Its petals shuddered before thick orange acid was squirted out of its pistil…and simply landed on the ground behind to it. Erika sighed and held a hand to her face. "Oh, no. Confusion…"

I turned my focus to Charmeleon. His eyes were open, but he didn't seem to be trying to get up. "Charmeleon! Can you still fight?" At the sound of my voice, he flinched and got up. He looked like he was on his last legs, but he breathed out a steady stream of flames to express his anger. "Alright then. I wanted to set fire to the battlefield." Charmeleon didn't pause to look back at me in confusion. He got to work spitting fireballs and setting fires everything on the battlefield, only leaving enough free space so that the only path was between him and the Gloom.

"Oh…my…" Erika spoke in either awe or horror. It was hard to tell which because of the smoke that was beginning hide her side of the field.

"Nowhere to run…" I muttered to myself. "Charmeleon, use Fire Spin!"

"Jump, Gloom!" Erika commanded her Gloom, but in its state of confusion, all it did was trip and fall forward. If it was frightened and releasing its foul stench, the smell of the smoke should've helped to block out the scent. Once more, Charmeleon spat out a spiraling stream of fire, this time hitting his target. The Gloom was engulfed in spinning twister of fire, giving a high-pitched cry of pain as it did.

"And just to be safe, kick it up a notch by adding more fire!" I wasn't sure if a single Fire Spin was enough to ensure a 1-hit KO. Charmeleon did as I asked, breathing a steady stream of flame onto the fiery twister he created. The twister increased in size and height, and hopefully power as well. Eventually, the Gloom's screams stopped. The fire dispersed to reveal it sprawled out on the scorched ground, lightly charred and not moving. I gave a sigh of relief while Charmeleon roared in the face of his victory.

"THERE HE IS! GET HIM!" My relief didn't last a minute, as I was tackled to the ground and dogpiled beneath several angry girls, women and Grass type Pokémon.

 **X-X-X**

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Erika cleared her throat. We stood on what was left of the once bright green battlefield. The girls who trained at her gym stood behind her, giving me lukewarm glares as I stood in front of Erika. "You're an interesting trainer, Red Ketchum. Most people come in wielding a Fire type and think a type advantage is all they need to win. Losing leaves a bitter aftertaste, but losing to trainers like you compels me to have a better mastery of Grass type Pokémon. You and your Pokémon deserve this Rainbow Badge." She handed me a badge whose appearance lived up to its name: it looked like a flower that had a petal for each color in a rainbow.

I smiled, proud of the success and happy to have finally gotten my fourth badge. "Thank you very much."

"And as an added bonus…!" Erika trailed off before clapping her hands twice. On cue, a girl shuffled up next to Erika's side and handed her something that resembled a perfume bottle with a picture of a green leaf on it. "Please take this complimentary bottle of perfume made from the essence of Gloom, sold in our gym's affiliated perfume shop!" I had almost taken the bottle until she mentioned Gloom. Then my hand froze in the air. "Come now, don't be shy!"

I noticed Erika's followers mouthing _'take it'_ over and over. I gulped and took the perfume, mumbling a thank you. Well, I figured I could find a use for a perfume that's made of the essence of Gloom. Maybe to repel wild Pokémon…

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **On Route 7, Growlithe and Mankey are a Red version exclusive, while Jigglypuff and Abra are Yellow version exclusives. In Generation 1, Grimer cannot be found in the pond next to the Celadon Game Corner, but it can be in Gen 3. Muk, however, can only be found there in Gen 2 and 4.**

 **In Red and Blue, Erika has a level 29 Victreebel and Vileplume. In Yellow, she has a level 32 Weepinbel and a Gloom.**

 **Victreebel learns Cut via TM.**

 **Gloom's Hidden ability from Gen 5 onward is Stench, which has a chance of making its targets flinch with each hit.**

 **In the anime, the Celadon gym is associated with a perfume shop.**


	12. Chapter 12 - Saving Silph

**I've been gone for so long, so have a really long chapter as an apology gift!**

 _Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series, only this fic._

 **X-X-X**

We left Celadon City that morning, so we were back in Saffron City before noon. Red had gotten Squirtle back from the professor that morning and everyone was raring to challenge the gym there. Well, everyone but our trainer, who still seemed filled with guilt over what happened with Green. I don't blame him, because getting angry over a stone—even a really shiny one—seemed like a dumb thing to do, just like how _stealing_ a stone was a dumb thing to do. Really, both Red and Green acted weird, but I've learned that humans act weird when they're fascinated with something.

"I can't keep being depressed. I have to pull it together," Red spoke to himself after we left the Pokémon Center. "First, I'll go look for the Poké Mart so I can buy some items there. Then I'll go to the Saffron Gym to see if it's open yet. If not…I guess we'll just have to find some trainers to battle against, won't we, Pikachu?"

I nodded from my place on Red's head. "Yup! Pull it together so we can get back to work!" And so I can redeem myself after my humiliating loss against Erika. "Besides, it isn't as if we won't run into Green ever again. She has a tendency of bumping into us whether or not we want her to." Not that I really liked Green. She was always shady to me. I'm just surprised at what it took for Red to grow to dislike her, and even _more_ surprised that he wanted to apologize to her.

"I should be focusing getting gym badges and beating the Pokémon League before—" Red's sentence was interrupted by someone zooming past him on one of those contraptions he called a _'bike'_. They came dangerously close to knocking him over, too, so Red just stood there, looking slightly shocked at the near miss.

"HEY! Watch where you're going!" I shouted at the bike rider in Red's place. That seemed to get their attention, because they stopped several feet away, turned around, and came zooming over to us. "Uh-oh. Move, Red, move!" I instructed him in a panic, but Red stayed planted in place. The bike skidded to a halt when its front wheel was mere inches from hitting Red's body. Now the bike and its rider were close enough for me to get a better look at them…unfortunately. "Y- _you_!"

"Well, well, well! If it ain't Red the Hero!" The rider turned out to be Blue, riding a bike the same color as his name. Red was too busy staring at the bike in awe to properly greet Blue, but the other boy bent over in his seat so his smirking face was closer to Red's. "Ya like it? An old man gave me a bike voucher in exchange for listening to him talk about his Rapidash, and I exchanged it for a bike in Cerulean City."

"Cerulean City…? But those bikes cost—"

" _Way_ more money than I could hope to make during my journey! I'm sure you're jealous of this baby when you're stuck walking."

Red stared at Blue with a blank expression for a few seconds. "No. I'm fine with walking. Walking is a better way of finding Pokémon anyway."

Blue's smirk got wider. " _Riiight_. Or are you betting on that Charmeleon evolving so you can fly it around? Speaking of which, how about a battle? I still haven't paid you back for our battle on the S.S. Anne."

"Oh, so you're eager for _another_ butt-kicking!" I said with a smirk, drawing Blue's attention.

"Seriously, you should've evolved that rat by now. Not that evolving it will do you any good! I've made some additions to my team that'll counter anything on _yours_!"

"I doubt that!" I bent myself over Red's hat so I could stare at my trainer's face. "Let's beat the stuffing outta him as a warm up, Red!"

I was grabbed by my trainer and taken off of his head so he could properly see Blue. "Okay. I've gotten the Rainbow Badge from the Celadon Gym now, so I can safely say we're on equal footing."

"Ha! As if!"

Just when it felt like a battle was going to begin, someone dressed in black ran towards us and tripped, landing facedown. It turned out to be a woman, who struggled to get on her feet, only to falter when she did. "Ow! My leg…!"

Red began to ignore Blue and focused on the lady. "Are you okay, miss?"

The woman jumped, as if she suddenly noticed us. "N-no, I am _not_ okay! My boyfriend turned out to be a criminal! My financial future and life have been at stake! And I _still_ haven't had my morning pastry and coffee!"

"…Something's wrong with this woman, Red," Blue muttered.

"Nothing is wrong with me! I'm in a panic! I've just escaped Team Rocket with my body intact!"

The word _'Team Rocket'_ got our attention. "What are you talking about?" Red asked.

"Team Rocket has taken over the Silph Company and is holding the staff hostage! Including the guy who buys the donuts!"

"WHAT?!" I screamed as the boys stared at the woman in shock. Then a thought came to mind that made me frown. "What _is_ the Silph Company?"

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 12: Saving Silph~_

Minutes later, Red and I stood in front of a very tall building—bigger than that one department store in Celadon City. "This is it… The Silph Company headquarters," Red panted. "Whatever Team Rocket has planned, we'll stop them."

"Of course!" I reaffirmed my trainer from my place at his feet.

"Hold it!" A voice shouted loudly. We turned around to see Blue riding his bike towards us. He skidded to a halt in front of us, and up close, he looked upset.

"Blue, I thought you'd be going with that secretary to get the police," Red said.

"Oh, please! She can get there on her own. I'm not gonna let you hog the spotlight by stopping Team Rocket again!" Blue exclaimed as he got off his bike, setting it to stand on its own.

"Spotlight? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about! I'm gonna be the one to drive Team Rocket outta Saffron! Saving a company as famous as Silph will be a bigger deal than saving some graveyard!"

Red gave Blue a blank stare in complete silence before turning to the clear glass doors of the building. He looked inside. "Nobody's in there." I pressed my face against the glass to look in as well. There was a pair of fountains spurting with water, couches and tables, potted plants…but no Team Rocket.

"Obviously they're all up on a higher floor," said Blue. Red's friend then pushed open the doors and walked in.

"W-wait, Blue!" Red walked in after him and I followed behind them as they crossed the room. "You don't know what you're going into! Team Rocket aren't trainers who play fair! They're dangerous people who won't hesitate to hurt your Pokémon _or you_."

"Hmph! Don't underestimate me! I've trained my Pokémon so well that there's no doubt in my mind that they're better than yours. So why don't _you_ go off and get the police while _I'm_ off being the hero?" Blue asked with a smirk as he made a shooing gesture with one hand.

"I'm not leaving you alone in a dangerous situation like this."

"Well, I don't need a sidekick. So _shove off_!" Blue punctuated his statement by literally shoving Red down to the floor. He then ran into an elevator whose doors slid shut.

"Seriously, I don't know _why_ you consider that guy a friend…" I muttered as Red got to his feet.

"I have no idea what's going through Blue's head… I have to make sure he won't get into trouble." Red walked up to the elevator and began pushing buttons. "…This is taking too long. Blue may be taking it to the top floor. But…there's still the hostages to worry about." I looked aside and saw some stairs going up. I tugged at Red's pants to get his attention and pointed to the stairs. "I guess we'll have to climb the stairs."

We went up the stairs to the second floor and stepped into a hallway. When we rounded a corner, we caught a glimpse of several Rocket grunts walking over. We immediately ducked behind the corner, hiding behind a potted plant as they walked past us.

"I'm telling you, nothing's going to happen."

"But what if the boss finds out somehow?"

"Who's gonna tell 'em? The boss only wants one thing from here, so I'm pretty sure everyone's trying to loot this place clean before we have to leave. Besides, Silph makes _loads_ of items! Stuff we could take and sell for ourselves!" The Rockets laughed to themselves as they walked past us and entered the elevator. Either we're very good at hiding or Team Rocket's just blind.

We went around the corner and began to walk around. Without those two grunts, it seemed that this floor was empty. Eventually, we came across some locked doors that looked like they were made of metal. Red stood on his toes to look in through the tiny window and I climbed up onto his head to try and get a better look inside. There were several people in there, either looking miserable or frightened. Red tapped on the door a few times to get their attention. When they noticed us, they all crowded around the door and began speaking at the same time.

"I'll let you out. Don't worry." Red looked at the door and noticed something important. "There's…no handle?"

"It's got an electronic lock!" A man inside exclaimed. "It can only be opened with the card key of a Silph employee with a certain security clearance level."

"Where do I find a card key?"

"Team Rocket took all of ours before we were placed in here," said a woman. "But I bet those lowdown traitors still have _theirs_!"

"Traitors?" Red asked.

"Some of the employees who've been working here were actually part of Team Rocket. If you find one, you might be able to take their key from them!"

"Are you crazy?! He's just a little boy! Don't send him to go and tangle with criminals!" Another woman chided the other one. "Now, dear, I'm sure if you look around, you'll be able to find a card key somewhere. Or better yet, call the police and stay out of sight until they get here."

"That may take a while, though. Don't worry, I'll find a card key somewhere." Without waiting to hear any orders to stop, Red walked off. "Alright. So on top of looking for the employees and Blue, we need to find a card key. It hopefully shouldn't take—" He bumped into someone before he finished his sentence.

"Yowch! Watch where you're going!" The person turned out to be a woman dressed in the Team Rocket uniform. "Huh? A kid? I don't remember there being any kids… Wait, why are you even here, ya twerp?!" She exclaimed as she took out a pair of Poké Balls. "Go get 'em, Golbat!" In a flash of light, a pair of large Pokémon appeared in midair, flapping their wings. They reminded me Zubats, but they had eyes and tall, wide mouths that creeped me out. And they'd probably be more of a hassle, too. "Use Screech!" The Golbats circled around Red and I before screeching so loudly that I wound up falling off of Red's head.

"P-Pikachu…! Thunderbolt…!" Red grunted.

I charged up and, despite being disoriented by the noise they were making, I zapped them both with a jolt of electricity. It was enough to get the two Golbats to stop screeching. "I didn't think that there could be something worse than a Zubat…" I muttered as I shook my head in an attempt to rid myself of the ringing in my ears.

Red took out a Poké Ball and sent out Horsea. "Horsea, Ink Shot!" He shouted as he pointed up at one of the Golbat. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Horsea spat out a blob of ink and managed to hit one of the Golbats right in its big mouth. It fell to the floor, choking on the ink before it fell unconscious, and just as I zapped the other Golbat out of the air.

"Shoot! Stupid, weak Pokémon!" The Rocket cursed as she returned her unconscious Golbat into their balls. She turned around and ran back the way she came screaming, "Help! Help! Intruder alert!"

"W-wait! Get back here!" Red shouted as he ran after the woman. I followed him from behind with Horsea hopping quickly to keep up. But the chase led us to a dead end. "She disappeared… How unfortunate. I suppose now our cover's going to be blown…"

 **X-X-X**

We climbed up several floors while in search of a card key. We weren't even halfway up and it was obvious that there were far more Rockets here than in the Pokémon Tower. We _did_ manage to avoid being spotted by them as we scoured the area, but I think it was more because they were acting really relaxed rather than Red being incredibly stealthy. Maybe because they thought they had every person who worked at Silph locked up? Speaking of those people, it seemed like we found a group of them hidden away in a locked room on each floor, and Red wound up promising each group we found that he'd let them go. At the rate things were going, though, it felt like we'd never find one of those things.

"Alright. Fifth floor," Red muttered, sounding exhausted. "It's a miracle we haven't been found yet… But at this rate, it doesn't seem like they just left any key cards lying about. We really might have to actually take them from somebody."

"About time! My rage has been building and I've been waiting to unleash it!" I growled. As we walked past an open room, I noticed a single person standing in there with their back turned to the entrance. "Ah!" I began whacking the back of Red's head with my tail. "Look, look! Our first victim!"

"Pikachu, be quiet!"

"Eh?" The Rocket Grunt turned around and their eyes met Red's. "Wh-What are _you_ doing here?!"

"Green?! What are you doing here?! In that…outfit…" Red trailed off as if a realization had dawned on him. "Don't tell me that you're… I didn't think you…"

"H-hey! What sort of thoughts are running through your head?! You better not be thinking anything off!"

"I'm thinking that you're a member of Team Rocket. Which would make sense considering what you did…"

"I always _knew_ you were a shady person!" I snapped, pointing my paw at Green.

"So because I stole your dumb rock, it makes sense that I'm part of Team Rocket?!" She shouted.

"You're also wearing their uniform and standing here while innocent people are being held hostage."

Green scoffed and laughed sheepishly. "That doesn't mean anything!" Red stared at her blankly. "Look, why don't we have a conversation with each other like _civil_ people?" She asked as she walked up to us, holding up her hands.

"Stay back!" I snapped as electricity crackled from my cheeks. It was enough to get Green to back away slowly.

"I can't trust anything you tell me. If you're a member of Team Rocket, I…I have no choice but to stop your crimes! Pikachu, just…give her a light shock to knock her out!"

I did as he said, releasing a jolt of electricity that I'm sure would've knocked out a human child. But Green reacted by taking out a Poké Ball and releasing a Pokémon who took my attack without flinching. It was big and blue with a body covered in spikes that bristled as it growled. It towered over Red. "I might like you a little, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna let you drag me off to jail! Grab 'em, Nidoqueen!" The Nidoqueen ran forward and attempted to grab hold of Red, but he ran out of the way to avoid getting caught. I jumped up into the air and did a flip before firing a barrage of stars at the Nidoqueen, but it didn't seem to do much to harm it. "Poison Sting!" The big blue Pokémon's horn glowed purple before firing several glowing purple needles that hit me while I was in midair. I fell to the floor slightly injured, but not poisoned.

"Horsea, Bubble Beam!" A spray of foam hit the Nidoqueen from behind and covered its body. The Nidoqueen turned to glare at Horsea, who stood a few feet in front of Red. "Ink Shot!"

"Tail Whip!" Nidoqueen turned around and began wagging its tail. Horsea stopped performing his attack and started staring at the Poison type's tail moving back and forth.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" I darted forward and rammed into the Nidoqueen's side. To be honest, it felt like hitting a rock. The second afterwards, the big blue Pokémon grabbed me and held me tightly.

"Atta girl! Now use Body Slam!" The Nidoqueen jumped up into the air before squishing me beneath her heavy body. I cried out in pain as she pressed hard against me.

"Ink Shot!" A ball of ink hit the Nidoqueen in the face. She got off of me and began trying to wipe the ink out of her eyes. I crawled away from her, my body aching all over.

"Okay, this is starting to get unfair! Come on out, Jigglypuff!" In a flash of light, Green's Jigglypuff appeared. "Jigglypuff, Sing!" The small, pink Pokémon took a deep breath before it began to sing. I was unable to stop myself from listening and got drowsy. I saw Horsea fall asleep before I did.

 **X-X-X**

When I woke up, it was to the smell of that awful Awakening spray that Red tended to use. I was lying in Red's lap and noticed that we were in a small room with a bunch of boxes piled up to the ceiling. The only way out was a door with a small window. "Please tell me we won," I asked before Red began spraying me with a potion to tend to my injuries.

"Green put us to sleep with her Jigglypuff. I guess she threw us in here while we were unconscious." Red sighed and looked down at me. "This is a fine mess I've gotten us into. And after I promised those people I'd help them. Some hero _I_ turned out to be…"

"It's not your fault! It's all _Green's_ fault! Who does she think she is, being a member of Team Rocket?!" I shouted. "The next time I see her, I'll give her such a shock!" As if on cue, Green's face appeared in the small window on the door. "There she is!" I shouted, pointing at her for only a second before unleashing a bolt of electricity in the hopes of making it shatter. But it didn't seem to do anything to the window and only got Green to flinch.

"Geez, you just don't know when to quit, do you?" Green asked with a frown. "I'm not going to harm you, Red. I'm not like the rest of Team Rocket. I…I don't even want to be one of them anymore!"

I looked at Red to see his reaction. His head was bowed as he was messing around with something in his bag. "Why should I believe that?" Red asked.

"You saw how I was in Lavender Town! I thought all Team Rocket did was steal things…not hurt or kill people! But it's not like I can just _quit_! They do _bad things_ to people who think about leaving the group _and_ their Pokémon!"

"Well, why would you join a group like that in the first place?!" I flinched at the sound of Red raising his voice as he began glaring at Green. "They're criminals!"

"Well, so am I! I like stealing things! It just gives me such a rush, okay?! Whether it's expensive stuff or something as mundane as a Poké Ball or a bottle of potion! I know it's bad, but killing people is far worse!" Green bit her lower lip when Red continued to glare at her. "Fine, _don't_ believe me. I understand: you're holding a grudge and all… I'll just leave you locked in here for your own good."

"What?!" Red jumped to his feet and ran up to the door. "You can't do that! Let me out of here!"

"Yes, I can, and no, I won't. Pretty much every member of Team Rocket is here, and on top of that, so's the boss! I'd be crazy to let you run around and get killed because of your stupid heroics!"

"People's lives are risk! Think about them!"

"Look, no one's going to get killed so long as the boss gets what he wants. I'm not going to tell the other Rockets that I found you, so just do me a favor and stay hidden." Green then walked away, disappearing out of the view of the window.

"You can't do this! GREEN!"

Red spent a few minutes continuously banging on the door before he finally stopped and calmed down. He resorted to calling out the rest of the team to help out, but no amount of fire, acid, electric shocks, sprays of water or anything else at our disposal was able to break the door down. Red started walking around the room impatiently, looking at the various boxes and their contents. I peeked in one myself and found some pieces of candy that I could easily eat in two bites. After eating a few of them to pass the time, Red spoke up for the first time in several minutes.

"What's _this_?" I looked in Red's direction and found him staring at something on the wall. I walked over and saw he was staring at some buttons. "Instructions for…a teleportation system?" He pressed a button and in a flash of light, some boxes appeared in a corner. Red stared at the boxes in surprise before he pushed another button, causing the boxes to disappear again.

My mouth opened in surprise and I dropped the candy I'd been holding. "What just happened?! Where'd those boxes go?! They vanished like an Abra or something!"

"I wonder where in the building the boxes went." But Red was acting _way_ too calm about what had just happened. "We could use this to our advantage."

"Huh?! How?!" I continued shouting as Red walked over to me and picked me up, placing me on top of his head. "What are we gonna do?" He went to the spot where the boxes had been. He pushed the button and the boxes appeared once more. With a bit of effort, he managed to push the boxes aside and stood in the spot. He stared at the buttons on the wall. "Now what?"

"Now comes the hard part…" Red reached into his bag and pulled out a Poké Ball. He chucked the ball at the buttons…and missed. "…Baseball was never my sport." He took out another Poké Ball and threw it once more. This one hit the button, and in the blink of an eye, the room changed. Boxes were placed in different spots and a pair of Team Rocket grunts were in the middle of digging through them before they noticed us.

"Huh? Where'd that kid come from?!" One grunt shouted.

"Maybe he was hiding out in here… Go and shove 'em into one of the rooms with the rest of the hostages," said the other grunt as he continued digging through things.

" _Me_?! Why don't _you_ do it?!"

"Because I'm older than you."

"That doesn't mean anything! You just want all the stuff in here for yourself!"

As the two grunts argued with each other, Red whispered into my ear, "Knock them out with Thunderbolt."

I smirked. "With pleasure!" I charged up some electricity as the Rockets continued to ignore us. A single Thunderbolt was all it took to knock them both out. "That felt so good."

Red walked over to a sign on a wall that hadn't been hidden by boxes. "It looks like we're on the sixth floor now. That isn't very far…" He walked over to the unconscious grunts and began to search their clothes. After a few seconds, he smiled and pulled out a white card with red writing. "This is it! With this, we can head back downstairs and start freeing people! Although…" Red began frowning again. "It's more than likely we'll encounter more Rockets in a big group. Maybe we should free them after Team Rocket's been taken care of."

I couldn't help giving a sigh of relief. "For a second, I thought you were gonna say we should climb down all those stairs again just to climb back up…!" I mean, _I_ wasn't the one doing most of the walking, but it still took up a lot of precious time.

 **X-X-X**

And so, we continued up the building. We found some more hostages we'd have to save later and even some Rockets we had to defeat, but there was no sight of those nuisances Green and Blue, even as we climbed up several more floors.

"I'm not sure where Green went," Red spoke after we climbed the stairs up to the eleventh floor, "but Blue had to have gone in search of the Rockets' boss that Green had been talking about. I just hope nothing bad has happened to him." As if the thought spurred him on, Red started to walk faster and made it to the top of the stairs. But he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who was standing a few feet away from us: those two Rockets, Jessie and James, with Green who was wrapped up by Jessie's Arbok, which looked frighteningly different than it had been before. The Arbok's scales were now black and looked thick, a pair of horn-like spikes stuck up out of the top of its head, the face-like pattern on its torso looked like a malicious face with glowing red eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth, and the strangest part of it was its tail, which ended in a second smaller head that hissed and bared its fangs at Green's face. "Green!"

"Well, well, well! Look who decided to drop in uninvited _again_?" Jessie asked with a smirk.

"It's a good thing we were in charge of watching the security cameras," said James, "or we'd have missed this opportunity to catch your lovely show: beating up our fellow Rockets, collaborating with this little _traitor_ …"

"Traitor?" Red repeated.

"Oh, yes! She's been running around opening doors, talking to hostages—about _what_ we can only guess. She's even been taking Team Rocket's Pokémon that Silph managed to get their hands on for herself! She lied about having them right to our faces!"

"And for that, she's being _punished_." Jesse looked at her Arbok. "Squeeze tighter! Squeeze until she either begs for forgiveness or breaks!"

The Arbok glared at Green and tightened its grip on her. Green screamed out in pain and I felt Red shake with anger as it happened. "Stop it! Pikachu, stop it with Thunderbolt!" I charged up and zapped the Arbok, but it didn't even flinch from my attack, not that Red seemed to notice. "She's a member of Team Rocket just like you! Why are you doing that to her?!"

"Because Team Rocket dislikes snitches and traitors! In fact…" The Pidgeot-haired woman pointed a finger at Red. "She was with us in the Pokémon Tower the day _you_ arrived! Then she just ran off acting like she had a weak stomach!" She then looked at Green. "You told him what we were doing, didn't you, you little brat?!"

"Puh...Please…! Don't hurt him…! He's just a…dumb kid…!" Green pleaded.

"He's not some dumb kid! He's the reason we've been _demoted_! No amount of rare, sought-after Pokémon skulls can make up for the _humiliation_ of having some _brat_ halt one of Team Rocket's plans!" Jessie began pointing a finger at Red.

"If you're angry with me, then pick a fight with _me_! Leave her out of this!" Red exclaimed.

Jessie and James exchanged looks and began smirking. "Alright then." The Arbok unwrapped Green and she fell to the ground. I've been waiting for the chance to tear you to shreds!" Jessie exclaimed as her Arbok slithered forward.

"Now's the time we'll get our revenge!" James sent out his Weezing, which also looked different. Weezing's largest part had remained the same, but the smaller head had grown to be the same size of the big head, with its skin now black, the marking under its mouth resembling a fireball and even its expression being more aggressive-looking. "Do you like what you see? Our boss made us hand our Pokémon over to be used as test subjects in Team Rocket's experiment to create the perfect Pokémon! It was meant to be a punishment, but I think the results were excellent," James explained.

"Experiment?" Red asked as I stared at the Arbok and Weezing. Charmeleon, Squirtle and Bulbasaur came to mind, as well as the experiments I went through while trapped by Team Rocket. I couldn't control the electricity surging through me that crackled from my cheeks. "You would experiment on your own Pokémon just to make them stronger?"

"This wasn't a choice! In fact, it's _your_ fault, you brat!" Jessie growled. "Our Pokémon will enjoy getting their revenge! Arbok, Flamethrower!" The Arbok opened its mouth wide and unleashed a stream of fire at us. Red and I jumped out of the way to avoid the attack and all that got burned was the wall.

Red took out a Poké Ball and sent out Squirtle. "Squirtle, Bubble Beam! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" He shouted as he pointed at the Arbok. Squirtle took a deep breath and sprayed the Arbok with foam while I shocked it with a jolt of electricity. The Arbok's head-like tail moved in front of our attacks and blocked them without even seeming injured by them. "Pikachu, use Swift!" I spun around and flicked my tail, unleashing a barrage of stars at the Arbok. At least _that_ seemed to do damage, making both of its heads cry out in pain.

"Weezing, Fire Breath!" The Weezing's red head grew in size for a few seconds before breathing out a large blast of fire in front of it, slowly decreasing in size as it did.

"Squirtle, extinguish it!" Squirtle shoved me aside and spat out a spray of water, but his attack was slowly overcome. As he seemed to struggle with the oncoming flames, his body was suddenly engulfed in a bright light. As the flames got closer, Squirtle's body grew larger. After a few seconds, the light dispersed and the spray of water suddenly became larger and strong enough to extinguish the flames. "Squirtle! You evolved!" Red gasped in surprise.

"Huh?" Squirtle didn't seem to notice the change he went through and began inspecting himself. His skin had become dark blue. A pair of long, pronounced fangs had come up from his lower jaw. A pair of long, furry ears had grown on his head and his tail had become uncurled and covered in bright gray scales. His once smooth brown shell had become bluish-gray and covered in rows of raised bumps patterned with spots. "Uh, I meant to do that!" He exclaimed proudly as he threw his arms out.

"Yeah, right…" I muttered.

"You became a Wartortle…sort of," Red commented.

"As if evolving's going to save you! Weezing, Sludge!" James exclaimed. His Weezing's purple half expanded a bit before spewing out some black, foul-smelling stuff at us. Wartortle got hit by the stuff, but he didn't seem affected by it in any harmful way. He did cringe in disgust about it, though before glaring at the Weezing.

"Wartortle, aim Bubble Beam at the Weezing! Pikachu, do the same with Thunderbolt!" Together, Wartortle and I fired our attacks at the Weezing at the same time. When they made contact, the Weezing seemed to be highly affected, faltering in midair. "I was right. The Weezing became part Fire type, so Water type attacks are effective." He took out another Poké Ball and sent out Horsea. "Horsea, Wartortle! Combine your Bubble Beams!" Both Water types reared their heads back in preparation for their attacks.

"Hey, help me out here!" James cried to Jessie.

"Arbok, stop them with Poison Sting!" Jessie ordered as she pointed at both of them.

"Pikachu, block with Swift!"

As the Arbok opened both of its mouths and unleashed a barrage of glowing purple needles, I flicked my tail and fired rays of glowing stars at them. The stars hit the needles and not only caused them to disperse, but continued traveling and hit the Arbok. Shortly after that, Wartortle and Horsea attacked, firing a combined spray of foam at the Weezing. The force of the attack pushed the two-headed Pokémon back.

"Arbok, wrap up those two and bite their heads off!" Jessie screeched as she pointed at Horsea and Wartortle.

"Hey, take it down a notch! At least one of them is interesting enough to get the boss's attention!" James exclaimed. "Weezing, Smokescreen!" Both heads of his Weezing grew in size before expelling thick smoke that seemed to fill the hallway and made it difficult to see. The smell of that gas made it even worse, making my eyes water.

"Pikachu, unleash a Thunder Wave on the floor in front of you. Spread it as wide as possible," I heard Red say.

"Alright…" I got down on all fours, charged up, and then I unleashed a current of electricity along the floor just as the shadow of the Arbok was apparently coming towards us. The electricity struck it and, although it wasn't harmful, it managed to slow the snake Pokémon down as it got closer.

"Wartortle, Withdraw!" Quicker than usual, Wartortle pulled his limbs and head into his shell, which fell to the ground with a clatter. At this point, the Arbok was coiling around the two of them, prepared to squeeze. "Horsea, Twister!" Horsea's back fin flapped as the Arbok's smaller head came close to his own and the larger head was already biting down hard on Wartortle's shell. A small twister formed around Horsea, blowing back the Arbok and dispersing the smoke. Safe inside of his shell, it didn't seem to matter how close Wartortle was to the twister.

Jessie looked furious. "Arbok! Don't be so pathetic! Don't lose to a puny little seahorse! Use Acid to melt it down!"

"Weezing, get it together and help out with your fire breathing!" James exclaimed.

Arbok rose back up to its proper position while the Weezing shook off the remainder of the watery suds. The snake-like Pokémon opened its mouth and spat out bright orange liquid. Wartortle popped out of his shell and jumped in front of Horsea, his back to the oncoming attacks. The acid hit his shell, but it seemed to just slide right off, hissing as it hit the floor. The fire, however, was very different.

"YYYYOOOOOWWWW!" Wartortle cried out in pain, but he continued to shield Horsea.

"Horsea, jump up and use Ink Shot on the Weezing! Pikachu, use Swift on the Arbok!" Red commanded. With a great spring up into the air, Horsea fired two big balls of ink at the Weezing that, when it was hit in both its faces, dropped to the floor immediately. At the same time, I flicked my tail and fired a barrage of stars at the Arbok's larger head. Although it fell over, unconscious, the smaller head continued to move and hiss, but it was too small to move the body by itself.

"I…can't…BELIEVE THIS!" Jessie screamed as she returned her half-conscious Pokémon into its ball. "I thought the experiment was supposed to make our Pokémon stronger, but all it did was make them freaks!"

"I wouldn't call Weezing a freak…" James said as he returned his own Pokémon.

"Tell me where your boss is hiding," Red spoke simply without any hint of politeness.

"The boss?" Both Jessie and James asked at the same time.

"You think you'll be able to beat the boss? You're not even worthy of groveling at his feet, you little brat!" Jessie exclaimed. "As if we'll tell you where he is!"

"But…it's not as if we have any other Pokémon. We don't even have Meowth anymore!" James cried. What he said made me blink. I was so surprised by the Arbok and Weezing that I forgot about Meowth. Did the same thing that happened to those two happen to him? Did he just happily accept more pain and torture for the sake of being stronger? Between those thoughts and the memory of how beat up he looked in the Pokémon Tower, I wound up feeling worried for his safety. The safety of an old friend who killed a new friend. It was all so stupid…

While I was pondering things, Jessie and James had been bickering. Red intervened, "I don't care what you say. With or without your help, I'll find your boss and stop him."

Jessie smirked. "Is that so~? Well, he's on this floor having a discussion with the president of Silph. Why don't you go and interrupt? Then you'll witness the full force of the boss's power!"

"That's right! You'll be lucky if there's anything left of you _and_ your Pokémon!" James sounded absolutely giddy. Then, quick as a flash, the Rockets ran past us and rushed down the stairs. As soon as they left, Red ran over to Green.

"For two guys really confident in their boss, they sure ran fast," I muttered as Horsea began spraying Wartortle's shell with water.

"You don't have to do this, y'know," Wartortle said, wincing every couple of seconds.

"But you were hurt protecting me! I feel responsible!" Horsea reasoned. He then started to stare at the bigger Water type with bright eyes. "Wow…! You look so cool now~! I wanna evolve like you one day!"

Wartortle snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "Aw, geez! You're making me blush!"

"Green! Are you okay? Say something!" The rest of us watched as Red tried to rouse Green awake.

After a moment, she groaned and opened her eyes. "Don't shake me too hard… Everywhere still hurts…" She spoke slowly. Green tried to get up on her feet and Red supported her. "Why do you care what happens to me, anyway? I'm a member of Team Rocket, too, aren't I?"

"…You're not as bad as those two. I think."

"I'm not. Thanks for being a stupid hero." All of a sudden, Green hugged Red and began to cry. "I could've died! DIED! I was so close to dying and you actually bothered to save me!"

"Green… Put back everything you stole," Red spoke simply.

The girl broke away from Red and sniffled. "I only took the Pokémon to make sure that Team Rocket didn't get their hands on them! I didn't want them getting experimented on. But I doubted that they were happy being researched by Silph, stuck in a lab all day…so I thought I'd release them." She stared at Red for a few seconds before asking, "You're not really going to fight the boss, are you? He's really tough."

"Someone has to stop him. …You should leave, before you wind up getting into more trouble—either with Team Rocket or the authorities."

"You're at least right about _that_. I can't exactly defend myself because of this one kid I met who knocked out all of my Pokémon." Green stared at Red some more. "Telling you to be careful would be stupid at this point, so just don't die, okay?" She then kissed him on the cheek before running off, looking embarrassed.

"…Okay. That was weird," Red mumbled as we approached him. He knelt down next to Wartortle and began spraying him with a burn heal and then a potion. "It seems like you aren't exactly resistant to Fire type attacks… But still, you sure are something." Red's compliment made him blush some more. Red then returned Horsea and Wartortle into their balls before looking at me. "Well…I guess this is it, hopefully. After this, we'll probably never see Team Rocket again."

"That would be…wonderful," I said with a nod.

We walked down the hall until we reached the only door we'd seen on the floor. Unlike all the other doors, this one was a normal-looking door with a knob. Red tried to open it, but found that it was locked. "I guess we'll have to knock down this door…" As he began to take out a Poké Ball, a familiar voice called out:

"HOOOOOLD IT!" We both whirled around to see Blue walking towards us, looking mildly exhausted. "I don't know _how_ you wound up getting up here before me, but _I'm_ the one who's gonna beat down the boss Rocket!"

Red frowned. "Blue. This isn't the time to get competitive. You're talking about the leader of a group of dangerous criminals, not a gym!"

"Well then, you shouldn't care about letting me get the credit this time!"

"This isn't about getting credit! It's about saving people!"

Blue began to look annoyed. "Stop with the hero routine already! You're not as good of a trainer as me, so you have to make yourself feel better by acting like some selfish hero and getting in the news and stuff!" He took out a Poké Ball. "But I'll show you! I'll beat you in a Pokémon battle and show you who deserves the glory!"

"Blue, we don't have _time_ for—!"

"Pidgeot, go!" In a flash of light, a Pidgeot appeared in front of Blue. It screeched and stretched out its wings in an intimidating matter. I hadn't seen one in a while, but it looked like the Pidgeots I'd seen before: big with long yellow plumage on their head.

Red growled under his breath as he looked down at me. "Pikachu, go!" He sounded legitimately annoyed. "Use Thunderbolt!"

"Quick Attack!" In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the Pidgeot started flying a bit off of the floor and rammed itself into me before I could attack. Although the force pushed me back a bit, I still managed to zap the larger Bird Pokémon, forcing it to step back. "Pidgeot, Twister!" The Pidgeot flapped its wings quickly and created a small twister. I wound up being carried up by the wind, sliced up by blades of wind, until I hit the ceiling and fell back down to the floor. "Even with a type advantage, do you really think a wimpy little Pikachu could beat a fully evolved Pidgeot?"

"You're saying all the right things to get a _beatdown_!" I growled as electricity crackled from my cheeks.

"Pikachu, charge up and use Quick Attack to," Red commanded. With electricity surging around me, I dashed forward, jumping up to tackle the Pidgeot in the chest. The blow seemed to do a lot and made it falter. "Now! Thunderbolt!"

"Knock it back with Wing Attack!" I took the solid whack from the Pidgeot's wing and used that contact as an opportunity to easily shock it. The Bird Pokémon got in another blow with its other wing and succeeded in knocking me away. "Now, finish it off with Swift!"

"Counter with Swift!"

As the Pidgeot flapped its wings and fired a barrage of stars, I launched my own. Rather than hitting each other and stopping, our attacks went past the other and hit us both at the same time. I fell onto my back, my vision a bit dizzy as I stared at Red's worried expression before I rolled over and got to my feet. Across from us, the Pidgeot appeared to be unconscious. "Ha-ha! Eat your words, Blue!" I exclaimed.

"Hmph! That was just luck!" Blue said as he returned his Pidgeot to its ball and took out another—one with a blue cap with red stripes. "Go, Arcanine!" He sent out a large orange Pokémon covered in black stripes with a fluffy beige mane and tail. It towered over me and growled at me, and I'll admit that kind of shook a bit in front of that intimidating dog.

"An Arcanine… Pikachu, come back!" Red called out.

Blue smirked. "Heh! What, don't have any confidence in your little rat?"

I began to glare at Red's so-called friend as he called out again, "Pikachu, _come back_." With a snort, I ran back towards Red and stood at his feet, continuing to glare at Blue. "You've done enough for now." Red then sent out Charmeleon, who roared and caused his tail flame to flare.

"You're gonna choose that Charmeleon against a Fire type over one of your Water types? Have you yet to evolve _them_ , too?" Blue snorted. "Whatever. Arcanine, bite it!"

"Use Slash!" The Arcanine dashed forward, an orange blur as Charmeleon raised an arm to strike in retaliation. When the Arcanine came close, Charmeleon swiped his claws downward, only to have the larger Fire type disappear from in front of him and reappear behind him. "Behind you!" Red warned. Charmeleon reacted by swinging his tail, but the Arcanine bit it and began swinging Charmeleon around by his tail.

"Alright! Slam it against the wall!" Its trainer exclaimed. The Arcanine did as it was told and began whacking Charmeleon against the wall.

"Charmeleon, Smokescreen!" The Flame Pokémon opened his mouth and began spraying out black smoke, creating a cloud that surrounded him and the Arcanine. The larger Pokémon wound up dropping Charmeleon to cough. "Now, use Slash!" At Red's command, Charmeleon whirled around and slashed the Arcanine across its chest.

"Use Take Down!" The other Fire type tackled into Charmeleon with enough force to send him flying back. "Now, use Dragon Rage!"

"Counter with Dragon Rage!" Both Charmeleon and the Arcanine took deep breaths and breathed out blue fire. The flames collided and exploded into a cloud of blue embers and sparks that soon faded. "Fire Spin!" Charmeleon fired another blast of fire that, upon hitting its target, became a tornado of flames.

"Are you that stupid or that desperate?" Blue commented. "Use Roar!" In an instant, the Fire Spin was broken apart by a loud roar from the Arcanine that I sent shivers down my spine. "Take Down once more!" Before Red could call out another command, the Arcanine dashed forward and slammed itself into Charmeleon, sending him flying once more. He wound up landing next to Blue, who was wearing a satisfied smirk. "Guess we know who's got the superior Fire type!"

"Well, are you satisfied now? You've knocked out one of my Pokémon," Red spoke flatly as he returned Charmeleon into his ball. He was still conscious, but it was obvious that Red didn't want to push him _too_ hard before the _real_ challenge came.

" _One_ of your Pokémon? I'm aiming for _all_ of 'em!" Blue returned Arcanine and took out another blue Poké Ball. "Let's see you handle my Exeggutor!" He sent out another weird-looking Pokémon. It looked like a smaller version of the palm trees I'd seen on TV, but it had a pair of feet and three round heads with different expressions.

Red began to look annoyed. "Exeggutor… A Pokémon that's a Grass and Psychic type…"

"Ooh, that's…not good, is it?" I asked. I'll admit, I didn't know much about types, but Red's occasional rambling to himself made it clear: Psychic types were good against Poison types, which Bulbasaur was, and Grass types were good against Water types, which Wartortle and Horsea were. Then there was _me_ , an Electric type whose Electric attacks didn't do much to Grass types. Type-wise, our side was at a disadvantage. Red seemed thoughtful for a minute. Then he took out a ball and sent out Wartortle. "Wait, _what_?!"

"I see you've evolved your Squirtle. Not that it'll help! A Water type is still a Water type, after all!" Blue laughed.

"My Wartortle is resistant to Psychic type attacks. On top of that, Exeggutor is a Pokémon that can be evolved before it learns all it can as an Exeggcute. Only an Exeggcute can learn damaging Grass type attacks, one of which is Solar Beam, which requires sunlight to work. The only way your Exeggutor could learn a damaging Grass attack would be through Technical Machines, which cost a lot of money. Since your situation is pretty much the same as mine, even if you managed to save enough money to buy a Technical Machine, I doubt you had enough money to buy disks for Exeggutor, Pidgeot, Arcanine, and the rest of your Pokémon."

"...Did you draw your conclusions from the games we used to play together?"

"Arcanine can only learn Dragon Rage from a TM."

Blue was no longer smirking. He had an eyebrow arched as he said, "You've got a freakish memory. You know that, right?" The smirk came back soon enough, though. "So you're gonna bet your chances on my financial state, huh? How dumb!" I was having difficulties following this conversation. What was a Technical Machine and a financial state? Those two made them sound important, even if I didn't know what they were. Wartortle looked confused as well. So did the Exeggutor—all three heads wore the same expression. "Exeggutor, Egg Bomb!" Then those looks of confusion were replaced with ones of aggression. The Exeggutor's leaves shook before out from between them, dozens of eggs popped out from beneath them. The eggs went flying towards Wartortle and when they landed around him, they exploded. " _That_ was TM 37!"

Red didn't reply and checked his Pokédex. "…What is _this_?" He muttered to himself. "These moves aren't…" He shook the Pokédex a bit and smacked the back of the device.

Blue didn't seem to like being ignored. "If you're not gonna pay attention, your Pokémon's going to pay for it! Exeggutor, Psywave!" The Exeggutor gave a noisy cry as it stomped in place. Its body glowed with a purple energy before a rippling beam of energy went flying towards Wartortle. The attack hit and wound up knocking him back. "That was TM 46! Psywave is a Psychic-type move that doesn't do Psychic-type damage. So your weird Wartortle with its resistance to Psychic type moves is useless!"

"But Psywave does a random amount of damage."

"I'll take the risk. Besides, it's not like your Pokémon can do anything against mine!"

"…Wartortle, use Tackle!" Blue snorted at Red's command. With speed that he didn't have before, Wartortle ran towards the Exeggutor. "He's gotten faster," Red noted quietly. With a jump, Wartortle tackled headfirst into the Grass type. "Now, bite it!" Seconds after that, the Water type bit down on one of the Exeggutor's legs. The larger Pokémon cried out in pain and almost lost its balance.

"Shake it off, Exeggutor!" While balancing on one leg, the Exeggutor began to kick its leg. Eventually, it succeeded in kicking Wartortle off. "Now, stomp it!" The large Grass type hopped forward and stamped a foot down onto Wartortle's back. In response, he withdrew into his shell as the Exeggutor continued stomping. "Ugh! If it refuses to come out, just use Leech Seed!" The center head spat out a seed onto Wartortle's shell. The moment it hit, vines grew out of the seed and wrapped around the shell before glowing with a creepy red energy. Wartortle's shell shuddered a bit before he popped out of it again. He pulled off a vine only for another to grow back in its place. He flinched from the pain of having his energy drained. "It's out! Now stomp it and kick it aside!" Wartortle couldn't react fast enough to avoid a face full of foot, followed up by a kick that sent him sliding across the floor. "Keep it up! Stomp it again!"

"Wartortle, use Bubble Beam on the floor" From his position on the floor, Wartortle sprayed out foam along the floor. As the Exeggutor ran forward, it slipped on the floor and landed flat on its back. "Now, attack!" After getting back up on his feet and wincing from the draining effects of the Leech Seed, Wartortle skated towards the Exeggutor and pounced on top of it just as the larger Pokémon sat up. He dug his claws into the Grass type's body so he could hold on, began using his tail to whack it, and even starting biting the center head.

"Okay, enough playing around. Exeggutor, Psywave!" The Exeggutor's body glowed purple once more before another energy beam forced Wartortle off of the bigger Pokémon. "Now, Hypnosis!" All three heads of the Exeggutor leered at Wartortle, their eyes glinting.

"Withdraw!" Despite Red's command, Wartortle kept staring at the Exeggutor. Eventually, he started swaying and finally, he fell over, fast asleep.

"Did you _really_ think you could win? I was just messing with you!" Blue said with a grin as he returned his Pokémon. "Still, I'm impressed that your Wartortle managed to do _at least_ that much damage to Exeggutor!"

Red's face was blank, but his eyes reflected the annoyance that I felt. "Are you one of those trainers who poisons Pokémon for laughs?" I muttered.

Red returned Wartortle into his ball, muttering, "You did great. It was my fault for not expecting that." He then looked at Blue and asked, "Are you satisfied now?"

"Satisfied? You've still got some Pokémon left that can fight! I won't be satisfied until I knock out your entire team!"

"Once again: this isn't the time—" Before Red could finish, Blue sent out another Pokémon. It stood on all fours, its bright yellow and white fur so bristly that it looked like it would hurt to touch it. The Pokémon immediately whirled around and pounced on Blue, licking his face affectionately. Red looked genuinely surprised at this, but not for the same reasons I had. "A Jolteon… Blue…you didn't…"

"Jolteon, get off me! It's fight time, not play time!" Blue succeeded in pushing his Pokémon off and making it turn around to face us. He looked at Red, beaming with pride. "Do you like it? I got a Thunderstone and evolved my Eevee into a Jolteon!"

"Professor Oak asked you to keep it _unevolved_ for the sake of learning what could make it evolve into _different_ forms!"

"Well, at the end of the day, he's _my_ Pokémon, so _I_ decide what to do with him!"

"I'm so sick of you ignoring things!"

"And I'm sick of you acting like you're as good as I am!"

I'm surprised it was possible, but the air between the two boys became even tenser. Red put away Wartortle's ball before taking out another. He sent out Bulbasaur, who growled in an attempt to frighten the Jolteon. In response, Jolteon's fur bristled and electricity crackled around its body. "Bulbasaur, Poison Gas!" Bulbasaur's bulb shuddered before thick purple smoke rose out of it and created a small cloud around him and Jolteon. Jolteon breathed it in and began to look ill.

"So on top of a weird Charmeleon and a weird Wartortle, you've got a weird Bulbasaur, too. It's not even an Ivysaur!" The mention of what I assumed was his evolved form made Bulbasaur start to glare at Blue. "Jolteon, give it an electrified Pin Missile!" His Pokémon charged up electricity before barking and unleashing a barrage of tiny needles crackling with the same electricity. The needles hit Bulbasaur, but they didn't seem to do much damage. "Oh, good. It's still neutral to Bug type attacks. With _your_ creepy Pokémon, I never know _what_ to expect!"

Red ignored the insult. "Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf!"

"Dodge 'em with Quick Attack!"

The Jolteon began to nimbly jump around the oncoming leaves, getting closer and closer to Bulbasaur until he was close enough to butt heads with him.

"Restrain it!" At Red's command, Bulbasaur's vines quickly shot out from under his bulb and wrapped around Jolteon and squeezed him tightly. "Now slam it!" With ease, Bulbasaur raised Jolteon up into the air and slammed him down on the floor. "Again!"

"Bite the vines!" As the Electric type was slammed down onto the floor again, he stretched his neck out and chomped down on one of the vines. Bulbasaur cried out in pain and wound up letting go. "Now Double Kick it into the air!" Jolteon whirled around and used his hind legs to kick Bulbasaur up. "Pin Missile!"

"Vine Whip!" As a barrage of pins were fired at Bulbasaur, the Grass type lashed out with his vines and struck Jolteon across the face. The pins made contact against his stomach and Bulbasaur fell to the ground. He struggled to get back on his feet and get back into a fighting position. "Acid!" Bulbasaur's bulb shuddered and sprayed acid up into the air like a fountain. When the acid fell, it rained down on Jolteon despite his attempts to dodge. The poison also seemed to be working its magic, because Jolteon's breathing had become more ragged and he was faltering where he stood. "Razor Leaf!" A barrage of leaves were fired at Jolteon and made impact.

"Quick Attack!" At Blue's command, Jolteon started running, but he soon fell over and fell unconscious. "Shoot… You only won because you poisoned my Pokémon!" Blue complained as he returned Jolteon into his ball and Red returned Bulbasaur. "My last two Pokémon are my strongest, though! I'm so confident that they'll be able to beat you that I'll let you choose which one will beat you: Gyarados or Alakazam?"

"Blue, this is enough. I give up. You win," Red spoke flatly. "Now stop being childish and pick a fight with Team Rocket instead of me." He then turned his back on his friend and sent out Horsea. "Alright, Horsea. I need you to try and knock this door down with your Ink Shot. Okay?"

Horsea stood up straight and puffed out his chest. "Okay!" He took a deep breath and fired a ball of condensed ink at the door. It made a dent, but didn't break down.

"This door seems easier to break down than the others on the lower floors. Keep it up, Horsea!"

"Don't turn your back on me!" Blue snapped. I watched as he glared at Red's back. "We still have a fight to finish! It's not over until I say so! RED!"

Horsea fired at the door once more, creating a deeper dent. "I already gave up, Blue. You're the better trainer. You have the stronger Pokémon." Red looked down at me. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt." I looked back at Blue, whose face was now bright red as he continued glaring at us, before doing as Red said. I zapped the door at the same time that Horsea's attack hit it. "Maybe attack the hinges…?"

"You wanna break down the stupid door?! I'll break it down for you! Go, Alakazam!" I heard the sound of a Poké Ball opening and looked back. Standing in front of Blue was something that resembled a Kadabra, but larger, holding a pair of spoons and lacking a tail or a star on its forehead. "Use Psychic on them and use 'em to knock the door down!" The Alakazam mutely looked back at its trainer, probably questioning his command. "You heard me!"

"Bl—!" Whatever Red was going to say was stopped when a pale blue aura surrounded us all. The Alakazam was holding up its spoons while its eyes glowed purple. The spoons suddenly bent forward and we were sent flying into the door with enough force to knock it down—and knock the wind right out of me. We landed inside of the room, onto a nice plush mattress that wasn't plush enough to cushion the fall.

"Wh-what on earth?!" I rolled onto my stomach and took a look around. Standing nearby us was a fat man in a suit whose face was covered in bruises and a woman who looked as if she'd been crying. Sitting behind a desk was a man dressed all in black, wearing a hat that hid his eyes. The woman approached us. "My goodness! A child! Are you okay?"

Red got onto his feet unsteadily. He held onto his chest and glared at Blue as he entered the room with his Alakazam. "What is _wrong_ with you?!" The usually quiet boy growled. "You attack me because I won't get into a stupid competition with you?!"

"You're the one who suddenly thinks he's better than me!"

"When did I say that? I _never_ said that! If anything, _you_ always act like you're better than _me_!"

"Because I _am_! I'm #1 and you're #2! Stop messing with the pecking order and learn your place!"

"My place? Is that all I've been to you? Someone to make you feel better about yourself in comparison to?!"

"Ahem." A voice that was familiar to me suddenly spoke, getting the boys' attention. The man behind the desk had gotten up and now stood in front of the desk. Although his eyes were hidden, he was obviously frowning. "Children. Of all the people to intrude on my business, it's children. Hm? You… You're that kid who interfered with our plans in Lavender Town. I'd be hard-pressed to forget your face after seeing it all the time on the news." The man began to smirk. "At last, I have the pleasure of punishing you for getting in the middle of adults' business."

"Oh!" The fat man exclaimed. "It really is that boy from the news! Please, save us from—!"

"Shut up," the man in the hat quieted down the fat man with just that. He then looked back at Red. "I believe you have my Pokémon. Like…" He looked down at me. "…your Pikachu. If you give them all to me now, I promise I'll let you off with a couple of slaps—suitable punishment for a nosy child, wouldn't you say?" The man asked as he held out his hand.

"…I have no idea what you're talking about," Red spoke honestly.

"I was told that you have some curious Pokémon. Including a Pikachu that's stronger and better than it should be." The man started to frown again. "Those Pokémon are only so unique because of Team Rocket. That makes them the property of Team Rocket, which means they belong to _me_."

Red looked surprised for a moment before looking down at me. "Pikachu…? And everyone else…lab experiments?"

Blue snorted and broke the mood by saying, "I _knew_ those Pokémon were too weird to be natural! So what kind of freaky power does your rat have? Can it sprout wings and fly?" Without letting Red answer, he stepped forward. "Whatever! You're the boss of Team Rocket! I'll use my Pokémon to bring you to justice!"

"Wonderful. Do you see what you've caused with your heroics? Now every kid thinks he can be a hero and fight against Team Rocket. And _I_ have to go through the trouble of bringing them back to reality." He took out a Poké Ball and sent out a large cat-like Pokémon. Its fur was peach-colored, it had one red eye and one blue eye, and its thin long tail snaked behind it. In the center of its head was a clear white stone that glinted in the light coming from the ceiling lamps.

"A Persian. A freaky-looking one, anyway…" Blue noted. "Like that'll help you!"

"Well, well, well… If it ain't Pikachu…" The Persian spoke as he stared in my direction. "I haven't forgiven ya for humiliating me in Lavender Town."

I flinched and stared in surprise. " _Meowth_?! What happened to you?!"

Persian smirked. "Ain't it obvious? All of my hard work paid off and I'm right where I always wanted to be."

Red grabbed Blue's shoulder. "Blue, you can't fight a person like this alone! Not when half of your team's been injured! Let me help you!"

Blue shrugged off Red's hand. "I don't need help, much less _yours_!"

"Yes! Please! Don't intervene! I want to see your face when my Persian beats his Pokémon and then…kills him," the Rocket Boss said with a laugh.

"And when I'm through with him, I'll make you watch as I kill your trainer!" Persian growled as his eyes began to glow.

Suddenly, I felt a chill go down my spine without meaning to. I saw Horsea shudder and Red flinch. Blue shook, but he was too busy grandstanding to express any fear. Why did I have such a bad feeling about this whole situation…?

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

Nidoqueen learns Body Slam via TM. Pidgeot learns Swift via TM. Arcanine learns Dragon Rage. Exeggutor learns Psywave and Egg Bomb via TM.

Notably, Psywave was introduced in Gen I, but no Gen I Pokémon could learn it by leveling up until as late as Gen V (Mr. Mime in BW2) and Gen VI (Staryu in ORAS). The only way to learn it in Gen I was through TM 46.

Psywave actually deals "typeless" damage from Gen II onward.

Blue's team in this chapter is inspired by a combination of both his teams from the Red and Blue versions and the Yellow version from this point in the game: in RB, he has an Alakazam, a Pidgeot, his starter and two Pokémon of the types of the starters he didn't get—Growlithe for Fire, Gyarados for Water and Exeggcute for Grass. In Yellow, he instead has a Kadabra, a Sandslash, one of Eevee's evolutions, and two Pokémon for the Eevelutions he doesn't have—Magneton for Electric, Cloyster for Water and Ninetales for Fire. For this story, he has his Alakazam, Pidgeot, and Gyarados from RB, his Jolteon from Yellow, Arcanine as a replacement for his Ninetales from Yellow, and Exeggutor as a replacement for his Exeggcute from RB.

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


	13. Chapter 13 - Betting Your Life On It

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. She only owns this fic._

 **X-X-X**

This day has been awful. I've learned that Green has been a member of Team Rocket at least since the Lavender Town incident. Blue's competitiveness reached new heights to the point of challenging me to a Pokémon battle in the middle of trying to rescue people at the Silph Company. My Pikachu, Charmeleon, Bulbasaur and Wartortle's unique traits and abilities are because they were experimented on by Team Rocket. And now I'm standing here, watching the boss of Team Rocket mop the floor with Blue's Pokémon—and all with a single Persian that most obviously was _not_ normal.

I had watched as Blue's Arcanine had been knocked out by a Hydro Pump and Exeggutor by a Flamethrower. Alakazam was the one out now, but it didn't seem to be faring well against the Persian. Just a moment earlier, Alakazam had its ability to teleport disabled and in retaliation, Blue had it disable the Persian's Flamethrower, but not before getting burned. But now, as the Alakazam's psychically-created barriers faded away, the Persian leapt forward and headbutted it, making the Psychic type fall over and hold its head in pain.

"Alakazam, get up!" Blue shouted seconds before the Persian pounced onto his Pokémon and began to mercilessly slash away at Alakazam. Eventually, Blue had had enough and returned his Pokémon into its ball before any severe damage could be done. "Shoot…! All I have left is Gyarados and…!" The arrogance and confidence that Blue had before when battling me had left him. Now he was frightened and shaking. For the first time since I'd known him, Blue looked like a normal, scared child. He made eye contact with the Persian, whose eyes lit up, and he suddenly froze in place. The Persian ran towards Blue and I reacted in time to pull him out of the way after the cat Pokémon tried to pounce on him, though I wound up falling over with him.

"Blue! Are you okay?!" I tried to snap him out of it.

"Can't…move…!" Blue grunted. He was shaking, which I think were his attempts to move. He'd been paralyzed, which meant that the Persian knew Glare as well.

I noticed the Persian had begun to approach us. Pikachu tackled headfirst into it from the side, knocking it away from us. Then he shocked the cat Pokémon before it could recover. "Pikachu! Thunder Wave!" At my command, Pikachu zapped the Persian with a paralyzing zap. "Now, Thunderbolt!" He charged up electricity and attempted to shock the Persian, but it countered with an electric bolt of its own that clashed with Pikachu's attack and caused it to disperse into a bunch of sparks. "Slam!" Pikachu jumped forward and flipped in the air, aiming to hit the Persian in the head, but with a swing of its paw, the cat Pokémon batted him aside and Pikachu wound up flying into a potted plant, breaking the pot on contact. The Persian switched its attention from us to Pikachu and stalked towards him. I looked at Horsea, who seemed to have been frozen in fear by what he was seeing. "Horsea! Use Water Gun on it!" Snapping out of his terror, Horsea sprayed the Persian with water from behind. It whirled around to glare at us, its eyes and the gem on its head glowing bright green. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" After recovering, Pikachu zapped the Persian while it was distracted.

"I see. I didn't think you were the type of person to do such an underhanded thing as fighting 2 on 1," the Rocket boss spoke, sounding amused. "Such interesting behavior for a _'hero'_."

"Playing fair with dangerous criminals is stupid," I stated as the Persian recovered and turned so that its back was to neither Pikachu nor Horsea.

"I agree." The Rocket boss took out a black Poké Ball and sent out a Rhydon. Its large body was covered in rock-hard armor that seemed to have been scarred and scratched from previous battles. "My Persian has only had months of training in addition to being experimented on. My Rhydon has had _years_ of training with no alterations or experimentation whatsoever. But it's been a while since he's gotten a chance to battle someone worthy of his time. I doubt you're that person, but at least you'll see what a weak child you truly are."

I drew in a sharp breath of air as I thought of my next options. The Persian was paralyzed, so its response time was slow. Rhydon wouldn't have been affected by any of Pikachu's attacks, but its slow speed and extreme weakness to Water type attacks meant that Horsea should've been able to knock it out quickly so long as he attacked fast and knew how to dodge. "Horsea, Ink Shot that Rhydon!" Horsea faced the direction of the Rhydon and reared his head back before spitting out a ball of ink at the taller Pokémon.

"Thunderbolt." The Rocket boss's command made me hold my breath. The horn on the Rhydon's snout crackled with electricity before firing a bolt of electricity past the ink ball. Horsea barely dodged its attack, the electricity hitting a wall and scorching the wallpaper, while Horsea's attack barely did much damage to it once it hit its stomach. "Hoping to take advantage of an obvious weakness? It's too bad we're too experienced to fall instantly to a piddling attack like _that_." I bit my tongue and held back a response. Not that I would've finished it, because the sound of Pikachu crying out in pain was enough to get my attention. Pikachu' tail was in the Persian's mouth, being bitten down on and pulled as if it were trying to pull the tail off. And while I was distracted by Pikachu, I heard electricity coming from something that wasn't him and looked at Horsea all too late. I'd only looked in time to see him fall over from pain, scorched slightly from the shock it received from the Rhydon, which was now approaching. "Now crush it with Mega Punch."

The Rhydon held back its fist, aiming to do more harm than a simple punch. In a vain attempt to keep resisting, Horsea pitifully squirted the Rhydon's leg with water. The larger Pokémon's expression didn't change and it roared out before it let its fist fall. I had the good sense and reflexes to return Horsea into his ball, and the Rhydon's fist punched a hole into the floor. It eyes fell on me and I suddenly felt afraid.

Once again, the sounds of Pikachu and the Persian fighting attracted my attention. The Persian was biting down hard on Pikachu's tail while the claws of one of its paws dug deeply into his back. Pikachu's body cracked with electricity as he shocked the cat Pokémon. It could've done worse, but it was like the Persian took delight harming Pikachu this way. The rest of my Pokémon were unconscious or just too weak to fight back. In a panic, I wound up taking something out of my bag—a half-used can of repel—and chucking it at the Persian's head to get its attention. The Persian whipped its head in my direction and its eyes took on an unsettling glow. Suddenly, I found that I couldn't move. The Persian let go of Pikachu and began to approach me. But Pikachu found the energy to jump onto its head and bite away at its ear as electricity crackled around him. With a shout, the smaller Pokémon unleashed enough electricity that stray bolts shot off in random directions, hitting the walls, the floor, the ceiling and various objects. One bolt whizzed past my face and I felt its heat for a moment. When the electricity died down, the Persian fell to the floor, unconscious. Pikachu rolled off of its body, panting and staring at me.

"My, how impressive." The Rocket boss stepped into my field of view. He bent over and casually picked up Pikachu by the scruff of his neck. "Still a Pikachu, and obviously beat up, but still capable of defeating a Persian who should be, by all means, much stronger. You really _are_ a fascinating creature." Pikachu's cheeks crackled with electricity, but it quickly died down. He was too tired to fight back. The Rocket boss then looked at me with a smirk on his face. "You were a somewhat amusing, even if you were no match. But you still got into my business, and for that, you'll be made an example of." He then looked to the side, his expression stern. "Now, should Rhydon bore into you with its Horn Drill or mash you into paste with its Mega Punch…?"

I wanted to shudder and scream out for help as I heard the Rhydon's thudding footsteps draw nearer towards me. The president and the woman sitting on the couch were too busy quivering with fear, and even if Blue hadn't been paralyzed earlier, I felt like he would've been stuck in place from fear. I wanted to break free of the paralysis of my own free will and…and…

And then what? All of my Pokémon were too weak to help fight him. And this was the leader of Team Rocket. He wouldn't just knock them out if they couldn't keep fighting—he'd _kill_ them, or drag them back with him to do more twisted things to them. I was so weak in comparison, and yet…

"Hm? Are you trying to speak? Trying to ask for mercy?" The boss Rocket approached me and bent over a bit so we could see eye-to-eye. So close, I could see his dark eyes peering out from the shadows created by his hat. "Go on, boy. _Beg_ for mercy. If you cry and grovel, I might spare you and just teach you a lesson by taking back my Pokémon."

I think I saw red then, because without even noticing I'd been freed from paralysis, I wound up punching the man in the gut. But of course, I was only a scrawny 10 year old going on 11, so punching him only served to annoy the boss. In quick retaliation, he punched me across the face and I saw stars as I fell to the floor. Then I started feeling sharp pains in my stomach as he began kicking and stomping on me savagely. I tasted blood in my mouth. I heard ringing in my ears that almost muted the sound of the woman crying on the sidelines. Then, all of a sudden, the kicking stopped as a voice barely audible sounded over some radio of sorts.

"What is it? I'm busy," the Rocket boss spoke stiffly. "…We paid off the police. … _Interpol_?! How did _they_ even…?" The man trailed off as he began to growl. "We're done here. I've got the Master Ball. Tell all Rockets to return to the hideout. Don't waste time snatching up trash we don't need." I then felt myself being rolled onto my back by the foot of the boss. I found myself unable to help staring up at him while he had Pikachu tucked helplessly under his armpit. "I'm going to spare your miserable little life and hope you've realized the truth of how weak you are. The next time you interfere in our plans, I _will_ kill you…painfully and slowly." He adjusted his hat before leaving my field of view.

"N…no…! Puh…Pika…chu…!" I called out as I struggled to raise my hand before losing my strength and blacking out.

 **X-X-X**

When I came to, I was suddenly aware of how much pain I was in. I tried to sit up in the bed I was lying down in, only to be aware of the pain in my chest and stomach. I couldn't help crying out in pain. I took a look around at my surroundings and found nothing familiar: nothing even my bag or my belt of Poké Balls. Even my clothes weren't there, and while I'd been knocked out, I was made to wear a slightly baggy clothes that were better off for pajamas.

I suddenly remembered what had happened and I felt a headache come to life as tears welled up in my eyes. Pikachu… My very first Pokémon, and the first friend I made after losing Blue, was gone. _Stolen_ by someone who probably had who-knows- _what_ done to him before. And I couldn't do a thing to save him! I started bawling loudly as my headache increased in intensity due to my heartache and physical pain. I did that until I found myself unable to cry anymore, and all I could give out were dry heaves and coughs. I fell asleep wishing I had someone to hold and assure me that it wasn't _entirely_ my fault that Pikachu might be dead by now.

After that moment, I would occasionally wake up, but I didn't feel the urge to move or cry anymore. In some instances, I would have company. One time, I'd been woken up by a nurse who was in the middle of checking me over. Another, I was woken up by a doctor accompanied by a policeman who asked me to confirm things that had happened in Silph Co. A reporter actually snuck in and tried to ask me questions, but he got kicked out by an angry nurse and a Machoke wearing a nurse's hat. Every time I woke up, I'd hoped to see an apologetic Blue, or my Pokémon, or even my worried mother, who likely learned about what had happened, or…Pikachu to confirm that what had happened was a bad dream. But if I wasn't seeing strangers, I was alone. And when I was alone, my mind wandered to Team Rocket and I wanted to punch something.

I was only in the hospital for a day before being released and given back my Pokémon. Although I still ached in certain places and bruises still decorated parts of my body, I was well enough to walk around and function on a normal daily basis—so long as I didn't push myself too hard. For the most part, the medical advice I had been given went through one ear and out the other. I was too focused on a single thing: Team Rocket. I wanted to find where they took Pikachu, and regardless of whether or not he was in one piece, _I would_ _destroy them_.

 **X-X-X**

 _Chapter 13: Betting Your Life On It_

I really only had one connection to Team Rocket, and that was Green. I wasn't sure what happened to her after the whole Silph Co. incident, but I _did_ remember that she lived in Celadon City. I decided to go there to pay her a visit and hopefully get information out of her. If she'd been sincere when I last saw her, she would be more than happy to tell me where Pikachu had been taken for want of doing the right thing.

By the time I arrived in Celadon City, night had fallen. As I approached the apartment building where Green had been living, who should dart out of the building but Green herself? And following closely behind her were a pair of Team Rocket members. I picked up the pace, ignoring the slight aches as I followed behind them. When I finally caught up with them, the grunts had Green pinned to the road.

"Lemme go, you creeps!" Green screamed as she struggled in their grasp.

"No chance, ya brat!" One Rocket snapped.

"Did you think you could just waltz back into the hideout after what you did? Yeah, we _know_ what you did, traitor!" The other Rocket explained. "I bet _you_ were the mole all along! Won't this make the boss happy?"

I slowly approached the Rockets as they forced Green to get to her feet. "Leave her alone," I warned them as I took hold of one of my Poké Balls. The Rockets whirled around to face me and laughed. I sent out Bulbasaur and that made them laugh harder. "Bulbasaur, strike them with Vine Whip!" The vines quickly shot out from underneath Bulbasaur's bulb and began to lash the Rockets.

"OW! You little brat!" One of the Rockets took out a Poké Ball and sent out a Sandslash. "Slash it down to size!"

"Razor Leaf!" A flurry of leaves were fired out from Bulbasaur's bulb. They cut into the Sandslash's body and quickly knocked it out.

"Geez, how pathetic!" The other Rocket sent out a Voltorb. "Voltorb, Self-Destruct!" A vein developed near one of the Voltorb's eyes as it twitched. It throbbed, getting bigger and bigger, and I had the good sense to return Bulbasaur into his ball before the Voltorb finally exploded. "HA! That'll do it!" The Rocket shouted as the smoke cleared to reveal their unconscious Pokémon, which had become charred black from the explosion.

"Way to go, dummy! You knocked out your Pokémon instead of _his_!" The first Rocket snapped as he shoved his friend in the shoulder.

I sent out Charmeleon next, shouting, "Use Dragon Rage!" He took a deep breath and blew out blue flames in the direction of the Rockets. They yelped in fear and, forgetting about Green, they turned tail and ran off. Green stared at me, stunned into silence. "Are you okay?" She nodded her head. "Good. Green. I need you to tell me where Team Rocket's hideout is."

Green suddenly found her voice again, and its tone wasn't pleasant. "Are you _serious_?! Look at yourself! You're so beaten up because you were dumb enough to think you could take on the leader of Team Rocket! And now you wanna just waltz into their secret hideout?!"

"They have Pikachu. I need to save him."

"You'll be killed!"

"They're doing awful things to him!"

"They'll do _worse_ to _you_!"

"What would you do if it was _your_ friend who was in trouble?!" I couldn't help snapping at her. "If it was one of _your_ Pokémon and you knew where they were, you would everything you could to help them, right?!" A minor headache came to life in the back of my head. "Pikachu was the first Pokémon I ever had. If anything happens to him, it's _my_ fault."

"Once again: _they'll kill you_! _I'll_ go and get Pikachu for you! It'd be easier for _me_ to get him, anyway!"

"That's too dangerous. You're not going there unless you take me with you. Green, someone has to stop them. I wasn't prepared last time, but now I know."

We both stood there, glaring at each other while Charmeleon looked back and forth between us. After a minute, Green shouted out in frustration and held her hands to her head. "Geez, why do you have to be so _stubborn_?!" She calmed down and began poking a finger into my chest. "Fine! I'll show you where the hideout is, but I'm going with you! Because if what happened at Silph Co. taught me anything, it's that you have _no concept of stealth_!"

"Green… You really are a good person."

"I just wanna make sure you don't wind up in the missing persons' section of the newspaper or something," she spoke with a mild blush on her cheeks. "Follow me and don't act out of line, okay?"

Charmeleon and I followed behind Green wordlessly until I realized that she was wearing the same Team Rocket uniform she'd been wearing at Silph the other day. "What are you doing wearing that again?"

"Huh? Oh, uh… I thought if I wore my hat low and tried to disguise myself, I could sneak in there and wreck their operation."

"How?"

"I dunno! Releasing the Pokémon they kidnapped…smashing the technology they stole…make things harder for them!"

"That wouldn't stop them, though."

"It would for a while."

"They need to be stopped permanently." Green suddenly stopped walking and I thought that maybe I had said something wrong. She then began to pull the Rocket uniform over her head. "W-wait! What are you doing?!" I shut my eyes to avoid from seeing anything I shouldn't have.

"Oh, don't be so stupid. I'm not gonna strip in public without having any clothes underneath!" I opened my eyes to see that Green was holding the Rocket uniform and hat, but was wearing her usual black dress. She then chucked the uniform aside, into the little sludge-filled pond I remembered from my last visit to Celadon, where it floated until a sludgy hand rose to the surface and snatched it down and away from sight. I looked at Green in confusion and she shrugged. "Walking in there with _you_ while I'm wearing that thing would just be trouble." We only walked a few more steps before Green stopped to point at something. "That's where the hideout's at." I looked to see the Rocket Game Corner, with its bright neon lights. "Shocking, huh? Or maybe not. Gambling dens are always shady places, so it's no surprise that this is where Team Rocket's main hideout is."

"Gambling? I thought this was a game corner."

Green gave me a confused look. "How sheltered _are_ you? It's all slot machines and card-flipping games in there, and people waste tons of money to win coins to exchange for prizes that Team Rocket stole themselves—even _Pokémon_!"

"And no one noticed? Not even the police?"

"Anyone who sticks around in there are gambling addicts or people too obsessed with getting a certain Pokémon to notice Rocket members skulking around. And the higher-ups of the Celadon Police Force were bought off to ignore all of this happening. And people who _have_ noticed are too afraid to tell on them, because…well…the Rockets are good at _disappearing people_." Green fell silent for a while before looking at me. "By the way, I'm pretty sure we can just waltz in there. There's usually only one or two of the weaker members to the back, guarding the entrance to the hideout. I'm sure you could take 'em!"

I arched an eyebrow. " _Me_?"

"W-well, _you're_ better at Pokémon battles than _I_ am! …But if you're gonna stare at me like that, I'll help you out if need be. I've got more Pokémon at my disposal than Nidoqueen and Jigglypuff, you know." I gave her a hard glare. "I stole them from Team Rocket, so you know it wasn't anything _too_ bad! Honest!" I just sighed and shook my head before following Green into the building.

The interior of the game corner was lively. Pop music blared from speaker systems. Lights flashed on game machines. People were either crying for joy or shouting angrily when they weren't intensely focusing on the machines in front of them. Crowds were gathered around tables where cards were slapped down or dice was being thrown. And the deafening sound of coins dropping into bins was heard every once in a while. I was glad I hadn't come in here when I was last in Celadon. This place was far too loud to be comfortable for me.

Green led me through the game corner by hand, and eventually, we were away from the slot machines and the card tables to a part of the game corner that was quieter. Nearby was a counter where people were too busy talking to customers to notice us. Green hissed and gestured for me to follow her behind a wall and down a hall.

"I can't believe no one noticed us," I spoke for the first time since we entered the building. I hadn't even bothered to return Charmeleon to his ball, but the sight of a bright red Pokémon with a flaming tail didn't attract anyone's attention. "Gambling is scary…"

"Over here." Green stood in front of a row of posters that were plastered on the wall. She stared at them for a few seconds before touching the one that stood out—a wanted poster about Team Rocket among others that promoted the Pokémon League Challenge or the various other sights around Celadon. After running her hands over the poster, I heard a clicking noise and the sound of machinery being activated. When I turned to look, I stared in awe as a hole in the floor was slowly made, revealing a staircase heading down. "Alright… The fourth floor is where they experiment on Pokémon. Pikachu should be down there."

"Right." I made to walk down the stairs, but Green grabbed my arm.

"Wait. What are you going to do once you get Pikachu back?"

I frowned. "I'm going to beat the boss this time. If he loses, the other Rockets will realize they can't win."

"No, seriously. What're you gonna do?"

"You said the police were paid off. It's not like there's anyone else in Celadon who can help us now."

Green sighed and shook her head. "Fine. But if you get us both killed, I'll haunt you for all eternity."

With that settled, I returned Charmeleon back into his ball for the sake of stealth and we both headed down beneath the game corner.

 **X-X-X**

The moment we made it down the stairs, I couldn't help but still. Without the lively atmosphere of the game corner upstairs, I suddenly became aware of how much danger we were in. This was enemy territory. Nothing but Team Rocket members would be here. Green grabbed my shoulder and brought me out of my thoughts. Quietly, she pointed to another set of stairs and I followed her down another flight to a second floor. She looked around warily before running in a direction, and I followed behind her. We rounded a corner into another hall, containing another downward staircase and no Rockets. I couldn't believe how fortunate we had been so far! It was all a little worrying.

"Where are the Rockets?"

"Probably off lazing around or sleeping. It _is_ nighttime, after all. Rockets might be creeps, but they're still human. Even so, there's bound to be a couple of people walking around doing work. Hopefully it's just scientists that're up. They're _lousy_ at battling and they're only here because they're evil enough to wanna do experiments that could hurt and control Pokémon."

With Green's guidance, our good luck continued even after we made it to the fourth floor. "This almost feels _too_ easy," I couldn't help but comment. "Are you sure they don't have cameras or something around?"

"Nope."

"You mean you don't know?"

"I assumed they wouldn't! I mean, it's their secret base, and it's not like just _anyone_ knows about it!" Green said with a huff. "Saying stuff like that's gonna jinx us," she muttered as she led me down another hall. "I _could_ have made it harder for you by taking you through the mazes and whatnot that are built to keep potential intruders lost and confused until Rocket members find them. But I figured you wanted to _find your Pokémon quickly_!"

"Okay, okay. I'm very sorry." I'm surprised I found myself speaking so casually with Green. I wasn't really over the news of her stealing from me or being part of Team Rocket, but…I suppose I just felt comfortable knowing that she was a genuinely good person deep down. Even if she had sticky fingers.

We stopped in front of a large metallic door. The doorway had a digital number pad built into the side. It reminded me of the doors that needed card keys back in Silph Co. "This is where the Pokémon are held when they aren't experimented on."

"We can't get in without a code."

"Thanks for pointing that out, Mr. Obvious. Luckily, I've got the perfect little door-cracker with me." Green took out a Poké Ball and sent out a Pikachu. I stared in surprise at it, particularly its tail, which had curves and a notch that made it resemble a heart on the end. "What? This was one of the Pokémon that those scientists were going to experiment on. I certainly didn't take it because it reminded me of you! I mean, um, Pikachu! Give this thing a Thunder Shock!" The Pikachu squeaked before looking at the door and releasing a bolt of electricity on it. Numbers appeared on the screen of the number pad, changing too quickly for me to register. "This _may_ take a while, but it should—" Laughter from nearby us cut off Green's sentence and made me still.

"Listen: is that a certain _traitor_ I hear?"

"It's speaking to me loud and clear."

Around the corner came the familiar and unwanted sight of those two Rockets, Jessie and James. "Oho! I didn't think you were _stupid_ enough to show your face around here again, little girl," Jessie said with a smirk as she pointed at Green. "On top of that, you've brought along our mortal enemy!"

"He's certainly looking worse for the wear, isn't he?" James snickered. "Well, that's what he gets for thinking he can stand up to _our_ boss!"

"I guess _he's_ stupider than I thought, too! Your three strikes have long since been out, twerp! We'll crush you, and we won't tell the boss a _word_ of your death! That's how insignificant you are in the long run!"

"And as for _you_ , our dear traitor, you'll share the same fate! So prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

With that declaration, Jessie and James sent out the Arbok and Weezing I'd seen in Silph. Both of their Pokémon seemed different in terms of attitude. The Arbok twitched, and the head on its tail had a twitchy eye. Both of the Weezing's heads took turns gasping for breath while leaking out clouds of smoke from their pores. They looked like they'd been through a lot since I'd last seen them. I couldn't help commenting as I released Charmeleon and Wartortle, "Your Pokémon look terrible."

"Resorting to name-calling! Just like a child!" Jessie snapped. "Arbok, use Screech and Wrap on the Charmeleon!" Both of the Arbok's heads opened their mouths and unleashed an ear-splitting shriek. I covered my ears at the same time as my Pokémon, and in that moment, the Arbok slithered forward, knocked Wartortle aside and wrapped itself tightly around Charmeleon. "And use Bite to hold that Wartortle in place!" The smaller head shot at Wartortle and bit down on his arm.

"Weezing, Smog!" The Weezing breathed out a cloud of poisonous smoke that covered the other three Pokémon. "Now light it up with Ember!" The red head of the Weezing inflated for a few seconds before spitting a single tiny flame at the cloud, causing it to explode. When the smoke cleared, Jessie's Arbok was still holding Wartortle and Charmeleon, and all of them were sporting burns.

"Wartortle, bite back the Arbok!" At my order, Wartortle managed to twist himself enough to lower his head and bit down on the Arbok's smaller head. He bit down hard enough to make the smaller head let go and cry out in pain. "Charmeleon, Dragon Rage!"

"Arbok, Poison Sting!" The larger head of the Arbok opened its mouth to unleash a barrage of poisonous needles, but Charmeleon was faster and breathed a bright blue flame down its throat. The larger Pokémon cried out in pain and let go of Charmeleon to writhe on the floor.

"Charmeleon, Slash! Wartortle, keep biting!" Charmeleon slashed away at the Arbok's chest with his claws while Wartortle continued biting down on its tail. I wished I could've done more, but the Arbok seemed to show signs of being part-Dragon type, so Water and Fire type attacks would do no good.

"What are you doing?! Help me out here!" Jessie snapped at James.

"Weezing, use Sludge!" The purple head of the Weezing spewed out a dark, foul-smelling sludge, aimed at Charmeleon and the Arbok.

"Wartortle, defend them!" Wartortle released the Arbok and managed to jump in front of the Arbok. The sludge hit him and just slid off of his shell. "Use Bubble Beam on the Weezing!"

"Counter with Fire Blast!"

Wartortle and the Weezing took a deep breath unleashed their respective attacks at the same time. Despite Fire Blast usually being a stronger attack, in terms of the size and spread of the flames, it was roughly the same as Wartortle's Bubble Beam, if not smaller in intensity. The foamy suds and bubbles were able to overcome the flames and hit the Weezing in full force.

"Ugh! Don't tell me he got that much stronger in a couple of days!" Jessie complained. No, it wasn't that. Were their Pokémon _weaker_? As in…not performing up to their full potential? Even now, the once-intimidating Arbok and Weezing weren't putting up much of a fight. They didn't put up much of a struggle. Charmeleon had even stopped attacking the Arbok—and that rarely ever happened when Team Rocket were involved.

James seemed to be preoccupied with spurring his Pokémon on to fight. "Come on, Weezing! Keep at it! We can't fail here!" His Weezing coughed and sank to the floor, chuffing out smoke at a slower pace. "Don't tell me you're giving in so easily!"

"Fight back, Arbok! Use Dragon Rage!" Despite Jessie's commands, Arbok seemed to have given up on fighting. It smaller head had even fallen unconscious…or what I _hoped_ was just unconsciousness.

James began to look thoughtful. "Jessie, I just had a thought."

"Now's not the time for thoughts! It's the time for _action_!"

"Well, it's just that…the nerds _did_ say there was a chance of test subjects dying from stress and whatnot… Maybe we ought to stop. He's not much of a looker anymore, but I don't _want_ my Weezing to die!"

"They're not going to die, you—!" The sound of the Arbok coughing as its larger head spat up blood made Jessie stop in mid-sentence. "Arbok?!"

"I hate to say this, but we've got no choice but to retreat!" James exclaimed. "We…we'll get the others! _They_ can put the brats in their place! He can't stop the combined force of all of Team Rocket!" Jessie didn't bother given a verbal reply. She just screamed in anger as she returned her Arbok before running back the way she came. James glared at us as he returned his Weezing, saying, "You may have gotten in here easily, but you won't be leaving alive!" Then he ran away as well.

Wartortle stuck his tongue out at the retreating Rockets and Charmeleon spat embers in their direction before I returned them into their balls. I looked back at Green, who was still focused on the door. "Green, we have to hurry."

The digital number pad on the door suddenly stopped on a particular set of numbers and beeped. The door slid open, revealing nothing but a dark room. "Yes! Pikachu, you're a doll!" Green complimented her Pokémon and kissed it on the cheek before returning it into its ball. She stood up and walked into the room, and that seemed to automatically turn on the lights in there. I and my Pokémon followed in after her. "This place gives me the absolute creeps."

She wasn't kidding. There were several rows of tanks lined up against the walls and stacked on top of each other. Each tank was numbered and contained a Pokémon just big enough to fit inside of it…and the Pokémon inside did _not_ look good. A lot of them were strange-looking: a Pidgey with feathers that seemed like they were literally made of flames, a Rattatta with gills, a Sandshrew with slime dripping off of its body, an Ekans with no eyes and pronounced fangs. The ones who _didn't_ look strange looked abused, with bodies covered in cuts, bruises, scars or bloodstains. Some of them stared at us in fear as we walked by, others hissed, growled or attacked the windows of their tanks in vain. A few didn't even react, just staring at us with glassy eyes as we passed…if they were even alive to begin with. I couldn't help staring at them and worrying about what sort of state I'd find Pikachu in.

"Hey! I found him, I think!" Green exclaimed, standing in front of a tank.

I walked over to her, trying to get the image of spider-legged Caterpie out of my mind. Lying in one of the middlemost tanks was a Pikachu. I couldn't really tell if it was _my_ Pikachu because its back had been turned to the window and it was curled up tightly, hopefully asleep. Holding my breath, I raised a hand and knocked on the tank. "Pikachu! Wake up! Can you hear me? Wake up! It's Red!" The Pikachu's ears twitched and raised up. It turned around so it could look at me and when I got a look at its face, I knew it was him before his eyes lit up and he began pressing his face against the glass. "Pikachu! Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" For some reason, Pikachu started crying. "It's okay now. We'll get you out of there!"

"Not so fast," a familiar voice spoke, sending chills down my spine. We turned around to see the boss of Team Rocket walking towards us, with dozens of Rockets behind him, including Jessie and James. "You have no sense, do you? Even after the beating I gave you back at Silph, you're still determined to fight against Team Rocket. If your actions weren't so _annoying_ , I'd be impressed by your persistence." He held up a hand and gestured to the tanks. "I see you've found Team Rocket's pet project."

"Why are you doing this?! Can't you see these Pokémon are in pain?" I shouted angrily. Despite my tone, the Rockets standing behind their boss laughed.

"All Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket! With strong Pokémon, we can easily take what we want—including the world!" The boss exclaimed with a laugh. "Humans have been using science to create Pokémon for years: the creation of Porygon—a Pokémon born of computer data; the cloning of ancient Pokémon through the use of fossils; why, years ago, they said someone even succeeded in creating a clone of Mew, the genetic ancestor of _all_ Pokémon! What we're doing is no different than what anyone else has done! It's just that instead of making a new Pokémon from scratch, we're improving what the world already has. Ah, but a softhearted child like yourself could _never_ understand what we hope to achieve!"

I narrowed my eyes and clenched my teeth. "I understand the difference between right and wrong, and _everything_ you people do isn't right in the slightest."

"Right and wrong are unimportant. What matters is _strength_. I'll put you through a world of pain to teach you that!" The boss shouted as he sent out his Rhydon.

Remembering what happened when we last fought, I took out Bulbasaur's Poké Ball and sent him out. Naturally, the Rockets snickered at the sight of the smaller Pokémon compared to the Rhydon standing in front of it. "Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!" Vines extended out from under Bulbasaur's bulb and quickly shot forward to lash the Rhydon across its face. "Razor Leaf!"

"Ice Beam." The horn of the boss's Rhydon began to glow bright blue before unleashing a crackling beam of energy of the same color. Bulbasaur just barely sidestepped the beam, and when it hit the floor, a patch of ice formed where he had been standing. "Again!" A second beam of cold energy was fired as Bulbasaur fired a barrage of leaves that cut into the larger Pokémon's torso.

This time, the attack hit and Bulbasaur was knocked back as he cried out in pain. Frost formed on parts of his body and he began shuddering from the exposure to the Ice type attack. "Can you keep going?" Bulbasaur looked back at me and nodded his head. "Good! Use Poison Gas!" Thick, noxious gas leaked out of Bulbasaur's bulb and created a cloud around him and the Rhydon. The larger Pokémon coughed, showing that it had breathed in. "Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur's vines shot out to lash his opponent once more.

"Grab them." The Rhydon held out its hands. They both got lash, but they moved quickly enough to grab hold of Bulbasaur's vines before they could retract. "Pull it in for a Mega Punch!" As if he were a living tether ball, Bulbasaur was pulled forward by the Rhydon's great strength as it held back a fist, preparing to punch.

"Blind it with Acid!" Bulbasaur's bulb shuddered and unleashed a spray of brightly-colored acid that hit the Rhydon in the face. It cried out in pain, but it didn't let go of Bulbasaur. Instead, it increased the force behind its pulling and dragged the smaller Pokémon close enough to land a powerful punch on him from above.

"Finish it with Horn Drill!" I held my breath as I returned Bulbasaur into his ball before the Rhydon lowered its head with the intention of drilling into him. I tried not to look at the smirking Rocket boss. "Maybe you should have _trained_ your Pokémon before thinking of challenging me again. Or would you prefer to fight two-on-one, if you think that will give you an advantage?"

Without a word, I sent out Wartortle. Horsea would be too weak to stand a chance against the Rhydon's Thunderbolt. "Bubble Beam!" Wartortle unleashed a stream of sudsy water at the Rhydon, covering it completely. It looked more upset than harmed, though.

"Thunderbolt." A bolt of electricity hit Wartortle, but it didn't knock him out. He stuck a tongue out at the Rockets, taunting them. "Knock that thing out with Horn Drill!"

"Withdraw!"

"Like _that_ 'll help you," the Rocket boss commented as Wartortle drew his head and limbs into his shell and the Rhydon charged forward, bent over so its drill could pierce through the shell. But when it made impact, the rotating horn just bounced off with a pitiful clanging sound. Inside of his shell, Wartortle could be heard laughing.

"Use Bubble Beam on the floor!" Still inside of his shell. Wartortle sprayed out enough foamy water to cover the floor under the Rhydon's feet. When it moved back on instinct, the Rhydon slipped in the water and fell to the floor.

The Rocket boss smirked. "Shock the floor." Electricity crackled around the Rhydon's horn before it was unleashed on the puddle of water that he and Wartortle were in. They both wound up being exposed to an electric shock, but being part-Ground type, the Rhydon wasn't fazed by it. Wartortle, however, cried out in pain, and when he stopped crying out, I figured he'd been knocked unconscious. I quickly returned him into his ball before anything worse could happen. "Nice attempt at strategy, boy." At their boss's words, the Rockets chuckled.

Without a response, I sent out Bulbasaur again. He still looked a bit beat up, but he was capable of fighting. Plus, between the poison, Bulbasaur's attacks and Wartortle's attacks, it seemed to be on its last legs. It hadn't tried to get back onto its legs, either, seemingly preferring to lie on the ground. The Rocket boss seemed to notice that and returned his Rhydon, then sent out the mutated Persian. Its mismatched eyes had a murderous glint. "Poison Gas!"

As Bulbasaur created another cloud of poisonous smoke, the gem on the Persian's forehead shone bright pink before firing a shining beam of multicolored energy at him. The beam hit its mark and knocked him back a bit, making him cry out in pain. I checked what it was with my Pokédex and it identified it as Psybeam. I wondered if maybe it was like Pikachu and it couldn't control what moves it knew. Otherwise, why would it go for Psybeam when it could've gone for Flamethrower? That might have been why the boss wasn't ordering it: he didn't know what it could do and so had no means of commanding it.

"This Persian was created to be an equal to the legendary Mew in terms of ability. Do you know what Mew is?" The Rocket boss asked.

I ignored him in favor of commanding Bulbasaur. I saw the Persian open its mouth to growl and several small black balls formed in front of it. The Pokédex identified it as a Barrage attack. "Deflect them with Vine Whip!" When the Persian yowled and the balls were fired at Bulbasaur, his vines shot out and batted aside those that came close to hitting him. "Now attack the Persian!" His vines shot towards the Persian, and at the same time, bright pink tendrils seemed to come out from parts of the Persian's torso and shot forward to defend itself. The green vines and pink tendrils lashed at each other until another tendril came out of the Persian's body and avoided the others to strike Bulbasaur upside the head. I was so stunned and disgusted by the sight of the tendrils that I didn't even look at the Pokédex to check what it was until they sank back into the Persian's body, not leaving a trace that they came out. _Vine Whip_. _That_ was Vine Whip.

"Mew is a Pokémon said to be the genetic ancestor of all Pokémon. It can use _all_ attacks that _any_ Pokémon are capable of using. Of course, Mew are rare and crafty—it's a Pokémon that's difficult to get and harder to keep a hold of. So we decided to… _reverse engineer_ Pokémon to take on Mew's traits. It's been difficult, since most of our subjects lack potential. The Pokémon _you_ have, though, are _brimming_ with potential." Saying that made me want to protect Pikachu even more. I didn't know if the Persian felt pain from doing those unnatural attacks, especially the ones that had an effect on its body, but I'd sooner die then let something like _that_ happen to Pikachu—or _any_ of my Pokémon.

Bulbasaur seemed to have the same feelings, because he cried out in anger. And then it happened. Bulbasaur's bulb opened a bit and something purple poked out. Then he was enveloped in a bright white light as his shape changed. When the light faded away, an Ivysaur stood in front of me. His body looked like a normal Ivysaur's, but the flower bud was different than the ones I'd seen in books and on TV. Instead of bright green leaves, he had dark purple leaves, and rather than a pink flower bud, it had a dark purple flower bud that seemed to be made of many petals—the first layer had unfurled and its petals rested in the spaces that had been unoccupied by its leaves.

"An Ivysaur. Like that's going to make a difference," the Rocket boss commented.

Still ignoring the boss as he spoke, I checked my Pokédex. With evolution came new moves, some of which seemed fairly normal for an Ivysaur. I guess evolving helped him work out some of his seed-related problems. "Ivysaur, Mega Drain!" I commanded. Ivysaur's flower began to glow with a bright green light before firing a matching beam of energy at the Persian. When the light faded, Ivysaur looked a bit better. Meanwhile, the Persian was busy standing on unsteady legs, obviously weakened from the poison. I glanced at the Pokédex again to see if he'd learned anything stronger. "Sludge!" Ivysaur's vines slid out from under his leaves, their tips spreading open before shooting out steams of thick, purple liquid. At the same time, the Persian fired another Psybeam, which went through one of the streams of poison, but it still wound up getting hit by the other as the beam of psychic energy hit Ivysaur in the face with enough force to knock him down. At the same time, the Persian's legs faltered before it collapsed and gave a pitiful yowl. It was obviously in no shape to continue fighting.

"What?! Grrr…! Obviously there are still some kinks to work out in our test subject…!" The Rocket boss and I returned our Pokémon at the same time. He looked annoyed. "I'm starting to lose my patience with you!" He took out a Poké Ball and sent out a Nidoking. His hide was covered in scars, including what seemed like scratches across his left eye.

Wartortle was knocked out and so was Ivysaur. Against my better judgement, I sent out Charmeleon instead of Horsea. "Fire Spin!" Charmeleon breathed out a spiraling flame that trapped the Nidoking in a small twister of flame the moment it made impact. "Again!"

"Break through and use Horn Attack!" The fiery twister was dispersed as the Nidoking charged out, his head lowered. He rammed into Charmeleon headfirst, jabbing him in the face with its horn.

"Counter with Slash!" Despite being in pain, Charmeleon raised both of his claws to swipe furiously at the Nidoking's chest. "Dragon Rage!"

"Double Kick!" As blue flames formed in the back of Charmeleon's mouth, the Nidoking hopped back a bit and performed two roundhouse kicks, striking Charmeleon in the face and directing his attack towards a wall in the process. "Again!"

"Block and use Dragon Rage!" Charmeleon raised an arm to block the first kick before breathing a stream of blue flames into the face of the Nidoking. The larger Pokémon stumbled back, holding his hands over his face. "Slash!" Charmeleon jumped forward and slashed across the Nidoking's face before wisely backing off.

"Horn Drill!" The Nidoking's horn became surrounded by a swirling energy of sorts as he lowered his head. He charged forward, plunging his horn deep enough into Charmeleon's stomach to draw blood. Then, with a flick of his head, he tossed Charmeleon against a wall. "Don't kill it! I need it alive!" The Nidoking looked back at the Rocket boss and nodded.

"Cha-Charmeleon!" When I called out to him, he luckily twitched, and then he slowly stood up. A wave of relief washed over me, but it didn't last for long. I noticed his feral-looking expression: the way his pupils became slits, the way his snarling exposed his sharp-looking fangs and the flame on his tail suddenly became bluish white as it increased in size. "Calm down! Listen to me and stay focused!" Charmeleon roared up to the ceiling, breathing out a stream of flames in the process. At that moment, a bright light enveloped him and his shape began to change. "Or…don't," I mumbled in awe before the light faded and a Charizard of sorts stood before me.

As expected, he didn't look like a typical Charizard. His horns, for instance, were black, pointed and curved back. His claws were black, as well, and his thick scales were now a darker shade of red than when he was a Charmeleon. The flame at the end of his tail still blazing largely and glowing bluish-white. Charizard stopped breathing fire and focused his eyes on the Nidoking before roaring once more, breathing a larger stream of fire onto the other Pokémon.

"Don't just take that! Use Thrash!" The Rocket boss shouted behind his Pokémon while his henchmen cowered in fear of Charizard. The Nidoking charged forward despite the flames and began to viciously attack, punching, kicking and whirling around to strike at Charizard with his tail.

But Charizard didn't just take the beating. For each blow, he countered with a slash, or a bite, or a burst of fire, and it seemed like each time he was hit, his attacks became more savage. Eventually, while the two were grappling one another, Charizard wrestled the Nidoking to the floor and roared out a massive stream of flame into his face. He didn't stop the flame until the Nidoking stopped moving. At which point, Charizard roared from his spot on the floor and prepared to toast Team Rocket with another spray of fire.

"Wait! STOP! Don't do that! Don't be as bad as them!" I shouted, trying to convince Charizard to obey me. But the tail on his flame seemed to become bigger and burn brighter. Feeling aggravated and blinding pain in the back of my head, I couldn't help shouting loudly, "JUST _LISTEN_ TO ME!" With a scream, I seemed to make everyone else cry out in pain. Charizard redirected his flame towards the ceiling, turning around to look at me once he was finished scorching it. He made a sad-sounding growl while bowing his head, as if he were apologizing. I smiled and stepped forward to pet him on the head. "Thank goodness… Don't scare me like that again, okay?" He licked my face in response.

"Uh, Red?" Green spoke up behind me for the first time since the battle began. "I don't mean to burst your bubble, but…WE'RE STILL OUTNUMBERED HERE!"

I looked at Team Rocket. The henchmen were either whispering among themselves, stunned into silent shock, or giving me murderous looks. The Rocket boss looked shocked as he returned his Nidoking to its ball. "H…how…? A child? _I_ was beaten…by a mere _child_?!" Shock shifted to mere annoyance. "No… Not a mere child… A _gifted_ child… It doesn't matter how old you are…I still lost. _Me_! The strongest trainer in the world!"

I wish I could've been smug. I wish I said something wise or soul-changing that made Team Rocket regret their evil-doing. But I didn't have a way with words, and I wasn't like Blue who would rub a victory in someone's face. I only stared blankly at them as I said, "It's over. Stop what you're doing. Return everything you stole, including the Pokémon, and turn yourselves in to the police."

The Rocket boss gave a dry laugh. "You think that because you've beaten me, you've won? In case you've forgotten, my organization is behind me!" He turned around to look at his henchmen. "Everyone! For the glory and honor of Team Rocket, you must crush these children under the full force of your combined power!" Regardless of what expressions they had before, when their boss practically ordered them to confront me, they all began to look worried and speak amongst themselves:

"D-do _what_?!"

"If the _boss_ couldn't beat this kid…"

"…What chance do _we_ have?"

"But it's the _boss_ who's askin' us to do this!"

"I don't know if I wanna follow a guy who can't beat a _kid_ …"

"James, are you regretting your life choices the way I am?"

"More or less, Jessie…"

But then, one Rocket spoke up, "I'd rather quit and get the hell outta here!" He took off his hat and shirt before running for the door. The rest of Team Rocket acted the same way, shoving each other around in a panic to escape… _me_ , I suppose.

The Rocket boss didn't scream or shout for them to return. He just stood there silently before he slowly turned around to glare at me. "…I refuse to let this be the end, do you hear me? _I refuse_. I will simply rebuild Team Rocket! With more _reliable_ members! With _stronger_ Pokémon! And when that day comes, I will destroy _everything_ you love and cherish until you _nothing_ left to lose but your pitiful life! You _wretched child_!"

"You're not getting away this time!" I shouted. Charizard roared in response, preparing to attack the Rocket boss if need be in order to capture him. But at that moment, the Persian popped out of its ball at its own will, not unlike Pikachu. Despite looking exhausted and being injured, it retained its murderous glare. Its body shook before the gem on its head shone bright purple, and it and its trainer were enveloped in a bright light before vanishing from sight. "NO! No…!" I fell to my knees, despairing over these awful turn of events. I punched the floor in anger. "I beat him and he _still_ got away!"

"…It's okay," Green spoke up after a moment of silence. "Everybody on Team Rocket abandoned him. He's all alone now. It'll take him forever to get back to the place he was before. And by the time that happens, you'll be stronger, too! So…don't worry too much about it!" I looked back at her and realized she was smiling. "You beat him! I'm surprised that you did it! Especially after that awful loss you went through before! Red, you're…you're really amazing, y'know!"

"Thanks, but it wasn't me who did all of the hard work. And now there's a bunch of wanted criminals on the loose. Including one that wants to get revenge on me."

"Hmph! I'm sure he's just blowing hot air! Who'd be dumb enough to try the same thing twice? And the rest of Team Rocket seem like the kind of guys who'd wind up either getting arrested or being scared straight after that experience with you." She then looked around. "Of course, now we've got to make sure all these Pokémon are released and all the stuff Team Rocket stole goes back to their rightful owners."

I suddenly remembered why I came here in the first place. "PIKACHU!" I got up and ran over to the tank where he was being kept. He was smiling now, but his eyes still looked watery. "It's all over…for now, anyway. Let's get you out of there!"

But once again, someone interrupted my freeing Pikachu. This time, it wasn't a member of Team Rocket…but policer officers. Several of them, in fact. They were dressed in body armor, carrying batons and accompanied by different kinds of Pokémon, including a few Growlithe that were sniffing around the floor. "Huh? Some kids? What the heck are _you_ doing here?"

"Geez, that one looks beat up! I bet the Rockets did this to 'em!"

"Holy…! Would you take a look at these Pokémon? This Pidgey's on _fire_!"

One officer approached us, looking stern. "Alright, kids. We're not gonna hurt you, but if you don't want us to arrest you for being in a criminal headquarters during a raid, you're gonna have to explain what you're doing here."

Green gave a shuddering groan, obviously not looking forward to an interrogation. Neither was I, but I couldn't help asking, "Can I please release my Pikachu from this thing first before we talk?"

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **Legally speaking, Persian can learn Headbutt via TM (Gen 2) and Move Tutor (HGSS) and Thunderbolt in Pokémon Crystal via Tutor and via TM across all generations where it's available.** **Rhydon learns Mega Punch via TM (RBY) and Move Tutor (Gen 3) and Thunderbolt and Ice Beam via Move Tutor (Crystal) and TM. Ivysaur actually learns Mega Drain via TM and Sludge via breeding from Gen IV onward.**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


	14. Chapter 14 - The Psychic Mistress

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Just this story._

 _Chapter Summary: With Team Rocket disbanded, Red can resume his journey and return to (something close to) normalcy! His next goal is to challenge a gym that not only specializes in Psychic type Pokémon, but is inhabited by all manner of human psychics. But can he overcome the fearsome "Mistress of Psychic type Pokémon"?_

 **X-X-X**

I have the best trainer in the world. Red is just a… _kinda_ normal human who was as fragile as the rest of his species. He got badly beaten up trying to save those people from Team Rocket, _even that jerk Blue_ , but despite the painful warning, he still chose to go after Team Rocket—after _me_. When I heard his voice and saw him while I was being held prisoner by the Rockets, I was so happy to know he'd risk his life for me…and so angryat myself for letting all of that happen. There was a chance he could've died in that hideout, and no matter how much I screamed and cried, "What're you doing here?! Leave before you get hurt again! Leave before you get killed! Please…! I don't want another friend to die…!" Red could only think about getting me out of that place. And the rest of the team was behind him in it 100%.

I have the best trainer in the world… The best teammates… The best _friends_. Dare I say that they were like my second family? I _never_ wanted to be apart from them. I'd beat the ever-loving stuffing out of anyone who tried to do that.

"…Okay, you can keep your Pokémon, kid. Now call off your Pikachu." The policeman sitting across the table from Red said before sighing and holding onto his head. I'd been glaring at the policeman from where I stood on the table after he said something about taking me and the other former Rocket test subjects away from Red. I felt Red pick me up and I was placed onto his lap. He kept a hand on my back and began petting me affectionately. After being abused by Team Rocket for a couple of days, Red's touch felt like the most wonderful thing in the world. "Judging by the way it reacted, I can only guess it's quite loyal. That at least shows you take care of your Pokémon. Then again, a kid who's crazy enough to break into a criminal group's hideout just to save one of his Pokémon _has_ to be a caring trainer." He smiled for a second before his expression became stern. "The rest of the Pokémon down there aren't so fortunate. The experience didn't just change those who survived physically, but mentally as well. As of late, several of those altered Pokémon have been running around the region and stirring things up. So you have to promise me that you'll keep those Pokémon of yours under control."

Red nodded. "Yes, sir. They're very well-behaved."

"Well-behaved? Charizard almost killed the entirety of Team Rocket," I commented, knowing that I wouldn't be understood.

"As for Team Rocket, we managed to capture everyone who was in the hideout at the time of our raid, except…for the boss," the policeman continued. "Now, you said that he swore revenge on you. The police forces of Kanto will unite in tracking him down, along with any other members of Team Rocket and their supporters who are still running free in the region, so you can rest easy."

"But…my mom… Sh-she's at home all alone and she doesn't have anyone or anything to protect her…" Red spoke up, looking genuinely worried.

"In that case, I'll assign an officer to look after her. At least until the Rocket boss is behind bars. I'd recommend that you stop your journey and return home because of your age…but with your experience and the fact that you're responsible for dissolving Team Rocket, you seem capable of handling yourself."

"Thank you…"

"In fact, you deserve a reward for what you've done. We've been offering cash rewards to those who turn in Team Rocket members, and considering what _you_ did to them, I'd say you deserve a pretty big reward. The president of the Silph Company also wanted to congratulate you with a gift for playing a part in getting back their stolen project, by the way. He's expecting you to visit him in Saffron City."

Red bowed his head. "Thank you, but…I don't really deserve any rewards… It was because of the police that the Team Rocket members were caught, and I wasn't able to capture their boss…"

The policeman smiled. "Don't worry about it! Because of your actions against Team Rocket, you've given people hope and you've made good, honest policemen disobey their no-good superiors in pursuit of justice. You've done enough, kid! If grown men like _me_ continue letting kids like _you_ put their lives on the line doing what _we_ should be doing, we wouldn't be very good adults! So let the adults handle this dirty business with Team Rocket. All you should worry about now is being a kid." He stood up and gestured to the door. "Now, if you'll follow me so we can take care of some minor things."

"Wait. Um…what about Leaf Green?"

"The girl? She's probably out by now. Why do you wanna know?"

Red shook his head and stood up, holding me against his chest. "No particular reason."

 **X-X-X**

I thought after Team Rocket was out of the picture, things would get calmer in our life. But apparently, taking down a bunch of infamous bad guys gets the heroes attention. It started when Red met with the guy in charge of that Silph place. As a gift for getting back something called the _'Master Ball'_ , Red was given something called a _Technical Machine_ —a fancy device that could apparently teach Pokémon moves with the proper disks, sold separately because not even the Silph President was that generous—along with some Ultra Balls and about a dozen rare candies. But it wasn't just a small meeting between him and Red—there were a bunch of people with cameras and microphones, asking questions and asking for pictures. Through it all, Red was uncomfortable.

For the next few days after that, Red was pestered by people: reporters, trainers, fans, admirers… And as a person who doesn't know how to handle getting lots of attention, he reacted in…well…an acceptably childish way: he locked himself in the room we were staying in and only left when food became necessary. In other words, he became a shut-in to avoid the public eye. Not that me and the rest of the team minded it. We were all grateful for a little downtime after all the Rocket trouble we went through.

"Stop changing the channel!" Wartortle snapped at Charizard, who was holding onto the remote for the TV. "You're just using your size for evil purposes!"

"There's nothing evil about it looking for something to watch," Charizard commented as he continued to change channels.

"There is when you won't pause and wait for a commercial to finish before changing the channel!"

The Water type tried jumping to grab the remote from the larger Pokémon's claws, but the height difference was obvious even while Charizard was sitting down. After evolving, he'd become a bit taller than Red. The height combined with his actions back in the Rocket hideout should've made us all terrified to be around him, but we all still got along well. Even Ivysaur seemed to accept him, no longer as wary of Charizard as when he was a Bulbasaur.

"You'll just watch something stupid, anyway," Ivysaur commented from his place on the other side of Charizard.

"HEY! _Squirtle Squad_ and _Rainbow Rangers_ are great shows!" Wartortle exclaimed.

"They're garbage."

"Says the walking potted plant who watches _cooking shows_! You can't even cook! You don't even have _hands_!" The turtle taunted as he waved his arms and flexed his fingers.

"I like looking at human food."

"Yeah, there's _nothing_ strange about _that_."

As Ivysaur and Wartortle continued arguing about their idea of quality TV shows and Charizard kept flipping through channels, I was busy trying to entertain Horsea by playing catch, our ball being an unused Poké Ball. As I tossed the ball at Horsea and he caught it in his mouth with practiced ease, Red was on the bed writing in his journal. I wish I could read human writing, because that seemed to be what he spent most of his time doing these days.

" _We're here in Pallet Town, home of Red Ketchum."_

"Hey, they mentioned Red!" Wartortle spoke up. Almost instantly, everyone began staring at the TV, even Red, who tried to ignore anything related to his new fame.

A man on the TV was sitting in a living room with an unfamiliar woman. She had brown hair and wore a pretty red dress. _"With us is his mother, Mrs. Hana Ketchum."_

"Mom?" Red spoke softly.

"That's Red's mama?" Charizard asked.

"Neat!" Horsea chirped. "She looks nice!"

"Doesn't look a thing like him, though," Ivysaur pointed out.

"No, she doesn't," I mumbled. Thinking about it, I've never seen Red's mother until today. He always talked to her on the phone, and sometimes he talked about her when he was homesick—mostly rambling about her cooking—but the day we met, he left Pallet Town without going home to introduce us to each other. Then again, I was hardly nice to him in those days. He might've been worried I would attack her.

" _Mrs. Ketchum, I'm honored that you agreed to this interview."_

" _Yes, well… I'm honored that you wanted to talk to me,"_ Red's mother said with a smile.

" _I suppose the first thing I have to ask is…how did it feel knowing that your son was going around confronting wanted criminals?"_

" _Angry and terrified. My son is going around the region challenging the Pokémon League and he's usually quite mature for his age, but no matter how strong his Pokémon are, he's still just a 10 year old boy. It was bad enough worrying if he'd get in an accident or be hurt by a wild Pokémon, but hearing that he was fighting Team Rocket was so upsetting… The first time it happened and I saw him on the news, I made him promise me to not do such a crazy thing again."_

" _The Lavender Town incident."_

" _Yes. But days later, I'm being told by my neighbor that Red's on the news and that he was severely injured. I was trying to find a way to get to him quickly when days after_ _ **that**_ _, people are saying he destroyed Team Rocket and was a big hero. But…I was just happy he was alive. I cried…_ _ **so**_ _hard…!"_ Red's mother bowed her head and for a second and I thought she was crying. The reporter sitting next to her searched himself before taking out a handkerchief and handing it to her. _"Oh… Thank you…"_

"Change the channel, please," Red spoke up. I looked at him and saw that he was on the verge of crying. I guess knowing that he made her sad makes _him_ sad. Charizard changed the channel and the TV began to show the intro of another show. Red sniffled and rubbed his eyes before speaking again, "…We'll go and check the Saffron Gym tomorrow. If the gym leader is there, we'll challenge it. Hopefully we don't have to train… Team Rocket was good enough practice for us all, right?" We all agreed on that out loud. I couldn't be happier at the news. It meant we'd be leaving this place and going somewhere _new_. Saffron is nice and all, but I'm getting a little sick of the same old scenery.

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 14: The Psychic Mistress~_

Once again, we took the familiar road to the Saffron Gym, and to our delight, it was open. Red took a deep breath before looking down at me. "Are you ready? We're going to get our fifth badge."

"I've been ready for _ages_! Let's get this over with!" I exclaimed as I pumped a fist in the air.

We entered the gym and were surprised to find that we'd entered a small room. The only door in there was the one we had come through, and the only person in there was the guy who kept telling us that the gym was closed the last time we came there, sitting on a chair and reading a newspaper. At the sound of the door closing, he looked up from the paper, saw us, and sprang from his cheer to greet us, "Hello! Welcome to the Saffron Gym! Say, you look familiar…"

"Yes, I was here several days ago to challenge the leader and you said she wasn't here," Red spoke quickly, wanting to avoid fame-related attention.

"Oh! Well, you're in luck! She returned a few days ago, so we're open for business again! By the way, if you didn't know, our gym leader is Sabrina, a user of the Psychic type. Sabrina and every other trainer in this gym not only use Psychic type Pokémon, but also have psychic abilities! Seeing into the future, levitating things, talking with their minds, and even communicating with the dead! Don't be too worried if you see 'em doing something unnatural. They're ordinary people just like you and me, odd quirks aside."

"That's fine, but…where _are_ they?" Red asked.

"Oh, right! Look at the floor! There's a fancy-shmancy warp tile beside where I'm sitting!" I looked at the floor and realized that there was a single, glowing blue tile on the floor, clashing with the rest of the dark blue floor tiles. "There are nine rooms in this gym, including this one. In order to get to Sabrina, you'll have to navigate through the tiles in order to find the room she's in. If you need a hint, the trainers in the gym will give one _if_ you beat them in a Pokémon battle. Clear?" Red nodded. "Good! Best of luck, kid! Sabrina's a real toughie!"

After the gym guide sat down once more, Red stared at the tile on the floor. He took a deep breath, stepped onto it, and in the blink of an eye, we were in another room. Before we could register what had happened, a voice behind us spoke up, "Greetings, challenger!" Red turned around and saw a young woman with pink hair dressed in blue clothing. "Are you confounded by our gym's teleportation tiles? If you need help, I'd be glad to give it...but only if you defeat me in battle! What do you say?"

Red looked around the room and so did I. There was a teleporter in every corner of the room. If we took the wrong one, there was a chance we'd be in the gym for a long time… He turned back to the girl and nodded. "Okay. Let's battle."

The girl smiled and laughed. "Alright! Let's practice what we learned!" She held out her hand and it began to glow with a bright pink aura. A Poké Ball hovered out from a pocket in her clothes and floated over her hand. "Go, my Seaking!" The ball opened and out popped a large fish Pokémon. I remember seeing that fish before, swimming in a pond in Celadon City, but unlike those, it lacked a horn and was floating in midair as if it were swimming in water. Its body was orange and covered in gold markings that resembled eyes, its fins were white and speckled with black spots, and a large lump of glowing orange flesh was on its head.

"Seaking? Why is it floating? And Seaking are supposed to be Water types," Red pointed out.

"Heh-heh-heh! My Seaking is a special Seaking! He's still a Water type, but…he's part Psychic! He's using his psychic abilities to be mobile on land! Just like me, he's a rare specimen of his species!" It sounded more like this thing was another former Rocket test subject. "If you're too intimidated about facing the unknown, you can just step on a tile and hope you're lucky enough to choose the right one."

Red looked at me. "Pikachu, go."

I ran forward and smirked as the humans stepped back. "Sorry, buddy! But I'm gonna take you out easily!"

" _Don't be so sure about that, idiot_ ," I heard a voice spoke in my mind.

"Huh?!" I jumped and looked back at Red. He didn't seem to hear that. I looked back at the Seaking floating in front of me and frowned. "Was that you?! That sort of stuff's not allowed!"

"Seaking, Supersonic!" The Seaking took a breath and made an unpleasant-sounding screech made the world start to sway for me. Or maybe that was just me. "Now, Psywave!" Although I was disoriented, I could see the bulge on the Seaking's head glow bright before a wave of purple energy rippled towards me and knocked me over, knocking the wind out of me.

"Quick Attack!" Red commanded, and I rolled back onto my feet. I charged forward and jumped up at the Seaking, headbutting it. That seemed to be a sensitive spot, because the Seaking faltered when it was hit before floating properly again. "Thunderbolt!"

"Confusion!" A burst of psychic energy pushed me back. I charged up some electricity without focusing on my target and wound up unleashing a lightning bolt that went zooming past the fish Pokémon and hit the wall behind its trainer.

"Try again!" I charged up once more fired another bolt of electricity quicker than the Seaking could create another burst of psychic energy. This time, the attack hit and the fish Pokémon fell to the floor and flopped pathetically for a few seconds before stopping altogether.

"Aw, shoot! It doesn't matter if he's a Psychic type if he's still a Water type going up against a Pikachu!" The psychic girl complained as her Poké Ball floated over to the unconscious Seaking and opened to return it inside. When the ball floated back into her hand, she continued, "We'll work on it so nothing can beat you, Seaking! I believe in your potential!" I guess it was nice that she was so supportive of her unusual Pokémon. Even if it looked like the top of its face was swollen.

"…Um. Excuse me," Red spoke up, getting the girl's attention.

"Oh, right! Gym business!" She pointed to a corner and smiled. "If you go on _that_ tile, you'll be on your way to meeting Sabrina!"

"Thank you. By the way… Where did you get that Seaking?"

" _I_ didn't find it. Our gym leader Sabrina did. I'm not sure how I can explain it in a _reasonable_ way to an ordinary person…but she heard them and sought them out so we could teach them how to control their psychic abilities. This gym is for training psychics as well as training Psychic Pokémon after all!"

"I see…" Red looked thoughtful after that as he picked me up and stepped over to the tile the girl had pointed out. "There may be a chance that Sabrina has Pokémon like that with her, then. We have to be prepared for just about anything."

"Ugh…! You mean there could be _more_ Pokémon who go lurking in my mind?" I complained before Red stepped onto the tile.

 **X-X-X**

As we went through the gym, we met more weirdly gifted humans who trained unusual Pokémon alongside of ordinary ones. A guy who could teleport used a Farfetch'd that could control its leek with its mind. A blind old lady who talked as if ghosts were in the room with us used a Growlithe that was part-Ghost type. A woman who seemed completely ordinary compared to those last two said she foresaw the results of our battle in a vision, but she still wanted to try to beat us with her part-Psychic Clefairy.

When we stepped onto that final tile, we appeared in a room that was far larger than the others, and found we were standing in the middle of a battlefield. The floor was blue and so shiny that I could see my reflection in it. Red turned around and we saw a young woman with long black hair, wearing a short red dress with black pants, red boots and white gloves. She was lying down on something that resembled a couch, which stood on another side of the battlefield. She seemed to be asleep.

"…Shouldn't we wake her up?" I spoke up first.

"Um… Excuse me?" Red asked, raising his voice.

The woman's eyes opened, revealing them to be red. She sat up and began sitting properly on the couch. "Welcome, Red Ketchum."

"She knows your name. Why am I not surprised?" I muttered as I looked to the side.

"Since I was a child, I have had psychic powers. It all began when a spoon I tossed aside bent. Since then, my abilities have grown in both number and power. You are also an individual gifted with psychic power, as I am. You can induce pain in others by overwhelming them with your own pain. Empathic abilities are also very dangerous, if it's negative emotions they are channeling."

"HUH?!" I couldn't help shouting out, causing Red to flinch at the volume of my voice. "Red's not a psychic! He's a normal… _half_ -normal…okay, maybe he might be a psychic." That would explain why whenever he got really upset, I'd sometimes get a headache. And the angrier he was, the worse the headache. Geez, I thought _I_ was unusual for my species.

"I was told by an acquaintance we have in common that we are alike. That we try to stop ourselves from emoting because we consider our anger to be a dangerous thing. So I have been looking forward to meeting you. However, you are not here to speak pleasantries, but for a gym battle." Sabrina stood up, and in the blink of an eye, three Poké Balls appeared around her, moving in midair. "I abhor violence, even Pokémon battles. However, this gym is a sanctuary for both humans and Pokémon who are like us. So to keep it that way, I, as the leader of the Saffron Gym, will show you my power."

"Sh-she's talking about a _Pokémon_ battle, right? Like, a _normal_ Pokémon battle?" I asked myself more than Red.

"What are your conditions for victory?" Red spoke up for the first time since getting into the room.

"Something simple. The first to have three of their Pokémon faint will be the loser. Is that clear?" Sabrina asked. Red just nodded in response. "Then take your position on the opposite end of the battlefield so that we may begin." As Red walked to one end of the battlefield, I thought about how little Sabrina seemed like Red from a mere glance. Everything about her was colder. Even if Red didn't emote often, he still obviously _felt_ often. But if she didn't like fighting, maybe she was just as emotional as Red—just less likely to express it. "For my first Pokémon, I choose…" One of the balls floating around Sabrina lit up with a blue aura and opened. A Pokémon with a body that reminded me of a human appeared. It had two blue tufts of hair that reminded me of horns and big white hands that had red tips on the ends of their fingers. "…Mr. Mime."

Red held out a Poké Ball and sent out Wartortle. It made sense to send him out since he was technically the only one defensively strong against Psychic type Pokémon. "Wartortle, Bubble Beam!" Wartortle took a deep breath and sprayed out a beam of bubbly water. The Mr. Mime waved its massive hands in front of it and before the Bubble Beam made impact, it seemed to explode against some unseen force. I gave a gasp of surprise, but Red didn't comment on it. "Use Withdraw!"

"Huh? Okay…" Wartortle muttered before pulling his heads and limbs into his shell, which dropped to the ground with a clang. As if on cue, a burst of bright purple psychic energy was fired from the Mr. Mime's hands and hit Wartortle's shell.

"It's attacking without even being commanded! Isn't that against the rules or something?!" I shouted, making Red flinch once more.

"You're using telepathy to command your Pokémon, aren't you?" Red asked. "To keep the element of surprise."

"There are no rules against using telepathy to command Pokémon in an official Pokémon League battle," Sabrina spoke.

"I'm sure it's because they didn't think _anyone would do that_!" I shouted, flailing my arms and tail. This entire gym was just too exhausting for my mind.

"However, I'm not using it to read _your_ mind, nor the minds of your Pokémon. Although I don't like violence, I don't condone using one's gifts to cheat. Is that a problem for you?" Sabrina continued.

"No, we'll just pretend that it's a really, really strategical wild Pokémon," I muttered under my breath.

"No," Red answered. "But I'm going to change my Pokémon right now."

"I will allow that," Sabrina spoke apathetically.

Wartortle popped his head out of his shell in time shout out, "Say WHAT?!" before he got returned into his ball.

"Since Wartortle's too slow…" My trainer mumbled to himself as he held out another ball. "I need someone who's quick on the draw." He sent Horsea out onto the field. The little seahorse Pokémon tooted out a greeting while wagging his dorsal fin energetically. "Horsea, use Smokescreen to cover that Mr. Mime in a cloud!" Horsea reared his head back before spewing out a cloud of thick black smoke. It surrounded the Mr. Mime and hid it completely from sight. "Now, Ink Shot! Rapid fire!"

Horsea took a deep breath and suddenly began shooting out balls of ink at a rapid speed, and they disappeared into the smoke. After a while of shooting, a few cries of pain could be heard. Suddenly, the smoke was dispersed with a burst of psychic energy, revealing the Mr. Mime. Its face and its torso had been stained with ink, while splatters of ink stained the floor in front of it. "I see you figured out Mr. Mime's weakness."

I looked at Red in confusion. "You did?"

"It takes time for Mr. Mime to make a wall. On top of that, it can only make one wall with its hands at a time. So my Pokémon just have to attack fast and make sure it doesn't know where to build those walls."

"Choosing not to break through, but debilitate us. Clever, but it won't work twice."

They both fell silent, as if thinking of their next move. The silence was uncomfortably tense for me. Then, Red spoke up, "Horsea, Water Gun!" Horsea reared his head back and sprayed a burst of water at the Mr. Mime. At the same time, it held its hands together and they sprayed out a stream of water the same size as Horsea's attack. The two attacks collided and exploded before raining water onto the battlefield. "Mimic…" Was all that Red muttered.

"There's more," Sabrina said as her Mr. Mime began wagging its fingers back and forth. I stared in confusion, unsure of what was going on until rocks suddenly appeared out of its fingertips and went flying at Horsea. Horsea dodged a few but hopping around in a panic, but he couldn't dodge the last rock and it hit him square in the head, knocking him over. "Metronome is random, but I know what moves it will bring up before they are done."

Horsea suddenly looked a bit intimidated. I decided to cheer him on. "Come on, Horsea! You can do it! Don't let 'em psyche you out!" He looked back at me and nodded. I could see a bit of a bruise was developing near one of his eyes. Hopefully it wouldn't affect his aim.

The Mr. Mime began wagging its fingers once more. "Horsea, Smokescreen!" Red shouted. Horsea created another cloud of thick smoke to block the Mr. Mime's view. "Ink Shot and move!" A large ball of ink was fired in the direction of the Mr. Mime before Horsea had the good sense to move. We heard the splattering sound of the attack hitting, followed by a flurry of needles being fired out of the cloud of smoke at the position where Horsea once stood. "Now, use Water Gun!" The smoke was dispersed by Mr. Mime once more just as Horsea fired a bullet of water into its face. "It's on its last legs! Ink Shot! Make it count!" Horsea reared back his head as the Mr. Mime's eyes glowed. It thrust its hands forward and hit Horsea with a blast of psychic energy, but instead of falling over, the little guy kept standing and fired his attack before the Mr. Mime could raise its hands to make a proper wall. The attack hit it so hard in the face that it was knocked off of its feet and landed on its back. The Mr. Mime gave a cry of pain from the floor as it tried to sit up, only to fall back onto the floor.

"YOU DID IT!" I shouted loudly, making Red winch again. He'd finally had enough and took me off of his shoulder to place me on the floor next to his feet, but he still seemed happy with the victory and the way Horsea was blowing bubbles in celebration.

The Mr. Mime's ball opened and returned it inside while another ball opened. Sabrina wasted no time, it seemed. The next Pokémon to come out was a bright blue bug that reminded me of the Butterfree of Viridian Forest, but more bug-like…if that made sense. But its big, round eyes were pale white, as if it was blind. Its wings were also white, but they had various patterns that resembled eyes of varying color and size. _Very_ creepy. "Venomoth are normally part-Bug type and part-Poison type. But as you know, certain individual Pokémon have been altered. Some like this Venomoth became part-Psychic. I made it my goal to seek out such Pokémon and help them…because they reminded me of myself. Confused…angry…scared…because they were no longer like ordinary Pokémon. Let Venomoth show you how he has developed since then."

"She doesn't emote much, but she sure does like to talk!" I couldn't help commenting.

"Horsea, are you feeling alright to continue?" Red called out. In response, Horsea jumped up and down energetically to show he was fighting fit. "Good! Attack it with Ink Shot!" Horsea fired a ball of ink at the Venomoth, as Sabrina called it, but the bug Pokémon easily dodged the attack and it hit a wall. "Smokescreen and Ink Shot once more!" Horsea created a cloud of smoke around the Venomoth and fired another ball of ink into the smoke, but the splat just flew through the cloud and hit a once more.

A powerful wind then kicked up from within the cloud and dispersed the smoke. The Venomoth was floating high above, flapping its wings quickly enough to create a whirlwind. Horsea wound up getting pulled into the whirlwind and was carried up into the air. At that point, some of the eyes on the Venomoth's wings began to shimmer and fine purple dust sprinkled off of them into the whirlwind, tinging it with purple.

"Poison Powder!" Red gasped. "Horsea, create a twister to counter it!" It took a while for Horsea to do as Red commanded. He cried out and the whirlwind seemed to get bigger, or rather, it was consumed by the twister that Horsea had created. It rose in size and sucked the Venomoth inside, slashing into it with blades of wind. "While it's in there, use Ink Shot!" But before Horsea could attack, the eyes on the Venomoth's wings glowed and fired a beam of bright green energy straight at him. After being hit by such an attack, Horsea couldn't maintain the twister and it wound up dispersing. He fell to the floor, which had to hurt from such a height. Whether it was the attack or the fall, it was obvious that he was in no shape to be getting up. Red had the same thought and returned him into his ball before sending him out again. He took out an antidote, the sight of which made me wince. I hate needles, but I guess Red didn't want Horsea to suffer until we went back to the Pokémon Center. I looked away as Red gave Horsea a shot and didn't look back until I heard the sound of a potion being sprayed to numb the pain a bit. Horsea looked a bit better, but he still seemed depressed over losing.

"Hey, don't worry! You did great out there!" I told him before Red returned him to his ball.

Red wound up sending out Charizard next. He roared and flames came spewing out of his mouth. "Charizard, Flamethrower!" Red shouted as he pointed up into the air at the Venomoth. Charizard breathed out a stream of fire, which the Venomoth easily dodged and countered by firing a beam of multi-colored energy from some of the eyes on its wings. Charizard was hit, but he didn't seemed fazed by the damage. "Take to the air and trap it with Fire Spin!" Obeying, Charizard flew up into the air and breathed out a spiraling flame, which trapped the Venomoth inside before it could dodge. "Now, Slash!" Charizard flew through the flames where I couldn't see him, and obviously from the way the Venomoth went flying down to the floor seconds later, it was obvious that the attack struck it down. The Venomoth cried out before its voice died out and the eyes on its wings lost their light somehow.

"Yes! 2 for 1! This might not be so hard after all!" Charizard landed in front of us, his face slightly blue and expression pained. "Uh, something wrong, big guy?"

"Poison… It poisoned you while I couldn't see…" Red muttered before he held a hand to his head. "Can you at least hold on?" Charizard nodded and turned around to look back in Sabrina's direction.

The gym leader was already returning her Pokémon into its ball. The third ball opened and sent out an Alakazam. Its eyes were closed and its arms were folded across its chest. I wondered if it was actually sleeping on its feet. "To think that I am on my last Pokémon. But I know the future. Alakazam won't fall."

Red didn't waste any time after that declaration. "Flamethrower!" Charizard opened his mouth and breathed out a stream of flame. The Alakazam didn't attempt to move and just took the attack. After the flames faded away, its body began to glow and the burns it received disappeared. "It's recovering…!" Red spoke to himself. "Get in close and use Slash!" Flexing his claws, Charizard flew forward and stayed low to the ground, prepared to swipe at the Alakazam with them. But when he got close, he was suddenly pushed back by a blast of purple energy before he could even touch his opponent. Charizard landed on the floor in front of Red, panting from the poison, but he got back onto his feet. "Try…Try Dragon Rage!" Charizard opened his mouth once more and breathed out blue flames at the opponent. The Alakazam, its eyes still closed, held out its hands. The spoons in them bent forward and Charizard's Dragon split into two and hit two opposite sides of the field, nowhere close to it. "Use Fire—"

Too late. Redirecting his last attack must've made Charizard lose it, because he flew forward in a rage to try and attack the Alakazam without even waiting for Red to finish his sentence. The Alakazam waved one of its hands in a downward motion and suddenly Charizard hit the floor. He made to get up and was knocked down by another invisible force. From the floor, he breathed flames and burned the Alakazam, but even as he kept up a steady flame, psychic power pushed the big lizard back and sent him rolling back over to Red's side of the field.

Red didn't look angry as he stared down at Charizard. Just disappointed. Both because the big lizard was in no shape to keep fighting and because he'd gone and disobeyed him again. He took out an antidote to cure Charizard of his poisoning before sending him back into his ball. Who he sent out next was Wartortle.

"Wartortle, get closer and use Bubble Beam!" Wartortle ran forward and sprayed out a stream of foam. Just like with Charizard's flames, the attack didn't make the Alakazam flinch from pain. Its body began glow once again to heal the damage from the attack. "Bite it!" Wartortle leapt forward and grabbed hold of its leg before chomping down on it. The Alakazam flinched and it stopped glowing. Wartortle continued biting down on the Alakazam's leg. Wartortle's body glowed for a brief moment and he went flying off of the larger Pokémon, but he didn't go very far. "Bubble Beam!" Another spray of foam was fired, but the Alakazam's spoons bent at an angle once more and the attack split apart, splattering on opposite sides of the field. "Tackle it!" Wartortle lowered his head, aiming to ram the larger Pokémon headfirst. A burst of psychic energy didn't stop the turtle Pokémon—just slowed him down for a moment before he gained a burst of speed and used that to headbutt the Alakazam in the gut. "Now bite it again!"

Wartortle opened his mouth to attack, but the Alakazam moved a finger and suddenly his face froze that way. "Huh?! What the heck?!" Before he could register what had happened another psychic push forced him backwards. "Can't…move…my mouth! I mean…!" He opened his mouth and tried to bite, but could only slowly close it. "I can't bite anymore!"

"It disabled his Bite attack," Red muttered. "Alakazam are weakest against physical attacks. But Tackle's not quite as strong as Bite. Not to mention…" The Alakazam began to glow once more as it began to heal its wounds once more. "Wartortle knows some new attacks…but the Pokédex can't identify them, so Tackle and Bubble Beam are our best bets."

"I can't bite anymore…!" Wartortle continued to complain.

"Would you stop whining about it?!" I shouted at the Water type.

Red was too busy being lost in thought to notice. "She's not even bothering to have it attack us while our defenses are down. Its style of fighting must be based on countering attacks and Sabrina's just waiting to see what we'll do so Alakazam can easily react to it."

Wartortle stopped crying and narrowed his eyes. " _Nobody_ tells me what I can and can't bite!"

"What the heck's with this sudden obsession with biting?!"

At this point, Wartortle was busy keeping his mouth open and grunting. After a few seconds his bottom fangs began to glow bright white. Red suddenly seemed to notice what was going on. "What's _that_?" He took out his Pokédex to scan Wartortle. "…Hyper Fang?" Without waiting for a command, Wartortle dashed forward and tackle into the Alakazam, actually succeeding in knocking it down. Wartortle climbed up the larger Pokémon's body and sank his teeth deep into the top of the Alakazam's head.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" And _that_ was how the Alakazam opened its eyes with a scream. Wartortle was sent flying into the air by a psychic push that probably would've made any other team member hit the ceiling. He landed on the ground a foot away from the Alakazam's feet, but was back on his feet quickly. The Alakazam sat up and held onto its head, too preoccupied by its pain to focus on healing itself. Sabrina seemed to be surprised by what happened, because her mouth was hanging open.

"Wartortle! Way to go!" Red exclaimed while I cheered. "Once again, Hyper Fang!" Wartortle leapt forward and sank his fangs into the Alakazam's arm, causing it to cry out in pain. Now that its eyes weren't closed or it wasn't concentrating on ignoring the pain, the Psychic type reacted properly to having teeth sink into its flesh. Eventually, its eyes became blank and it fell over, unconscious from the pain overload. "Yes!"

"HECK YEAH!" Wartortle screamed as he danced around the unconscious Alakazam. "Who won the fight~? Who saved the day~? It's _me_ ~! It's _Wartortle_ ~!" He continued dancing even as Red returned him into his ball.

The Poké Balls floating around Sabrina fell to the floor. "Un…unbelievable…! The future I saw…was _wrong_?" She asked, looking surprised. Her expression suddenly became neutral once more. "No. It was merely chance. The future can have many different branches, just like how Pokémon battles can have many different outcomes depending on how things go. But I refuse to blame my loss on mere chance. I simply didn't work hard enough when I foresaw that I would win." In the blink of an eye, the Poké Balls and Alakazam disappeared. "You and your Pokémon have earned the Marsh Badge, Red Ketchum."

In the blink of an eye, a round and yellow badge appeared in front of Red, floating in midair. He grabbed the badge and stared at it in the palm of his hand. "Thank you," he spoke loud enough for the gym leader to hear him.

"I was told that we were alike…and I believe that was so in the past…but whatever happened to you between then and now, I can clearly say that we are not like," Sabrina spoke as she stared at Red. "It isn't just a matter of the difference between our powers. You seem…happier than I am. More expressive. Unafraid to show your emotions when you feel them. I hope that one day, I will be able to be the same…without fear of awful consequences."

"Um…thank you," Red repeated, probably because he didn't know how to react to that. "By the way, you said that we have an acquaintance in common. Is it…Mr. Psychic?" I tilted my head in confusion. I didn't know anyone we met who was named _that_. Then again, I didn't know Red was a psychic, either. I was learning all sorts of new things about my trainer.

Sabrina nodded. "Yes. In fact, I was told to send you to him after our battle was over."

"But, I don't know where he—" In the blink of an eye, the scenery changed. "—lives." We were back outside in the fresh air, in Saffron City. We stood outside of a little house lined by a metal fence. A sign on the fence said _"AKA Mr. Psychic"_ , the letters on the upper part of the sign having faded away with time. "Wow. She's good."

Yes, Sabrina was a good and creepy psychic. Thank goodness Red wasn't like her and he could blend in with normal people…most of the time.

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **In Red & Blue and their remakes, one of Sabrina's Pokémon is Venomoth despite it being Bug/Poison type. Had to give her a reason to use it here...**

 **One of Alakazam's Pokédex entries in Gen 2 (and its remakes) says that closing its eyes heightens its other senses and allows it to use its other abilities to their extremes. Another from Emerald version says that it has weak muscles (probably referring to its weak physical stats).**

 **Mr. Mime learns Metronome and Mimic via TM. Venomoth learns Mega Drain and Whirlwind via TM.**


	15. Chapter 15 - A Living Roadblock

**I just finished playing Pokémon Moon and I have to resist the urge to start writing anything related to SM. So here's another chapter of Volt Yellow!**

 _Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series—just this fic._

 _Chapter Summary: After heading back on the road to Fuchsia City, Red's path is blocked by a large and seemingly immovable Snorlax. Without much in the way of manpower, how on earth can he overtake this giant hurdle?_

 **X-X-X**

It was an unnatural feeling, sitting in front of Mr. Psychic while inside of his very home, having tea and cookies. He looked no different than when I'd last seen him, but then again, it wasn't _that_ long ago that I last saw him. It just _felt_ like ages had passed since the day I last saw him.

"You know, I knew you'd come around here eventually. It wasn't something I foresaw years and years ago, though. More like…a feeling," Mr. Psychic said before he began sipping from his teacup again. "And like I knew you would, you've seem to have grown out of your shell. You would have to do so to grow as close to your Pokémon as you have. A person who can't even let his own Pokémon into his heart can't hope to bond with human beings." He paused again to take another sip of tea. "But you're still a quiet boy, aren't you? You haven't spoken a word since you sat down."

I flinched and looked down at Pikachu, who was sitting in my lap finishing off another cookie. I honestly didn't have a conversation in mind, despite how I kept saying that I had to see Mr. Psychic once before leaving Saffron City. Saying "thank you" for helping me all those years ago didn't seem like enough gratitude.

"Come now! You've been traveling, haven't you? Surely you experienced something you found interesting."

So, at his insistence, I wound up talking about my journey from the very beginning, when Professor Oak gave me a Pikachu instead of the Eevee that he intended. I told him about the Pokémon gyms I'd challenged so far, the personality of the gym leaders I had met. I told him about my Pokémon and their distinct little quirks. I told him about Green, whose whereabouts I still didn't know. I didn't tell him about Team Rocket and he didn't press me about the incidents involving them.

But I couldn't stop him from asking about Blue. "I seem to remember you had a friend around your age. Is he also traveling around the region?"

"Yes, sir." Although I was quick to answer, whatever pleasant feeling I had died down a bit at the mention of Blue. I still couldn't forget about what happened that day at Silph, or the fact that he never even bothered to visit me in the hospital. That behavior… It was a far cry from the Blue who stood by me while I was being rejected by others in Pallet Town, or the Blue who was willing to listen to me cry about my dead Nidorino.

Even after the visit was done and Mr. Psychic bid me farewell and good luck on the rest of my journey, I couldn't help but keep thinking about Blue. What would he do when we inevitably met again? What would _I_ do, after what happened that day?

 **X-X-X**

 _Chapter 15: Snorlax, the Living Roadblock_

After beating Sabrina and getting the Marsh Badge, it felt easier to get back on track on my journey. I called Professor Oak to tell him about my Pokémon's evolutions and the changes they underwent. He requested that he see them for the sake of research and I obliged. I intended to stop by the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town to finally give my respects to Nidorino, since it was now open to the public once more. I had to bribe Wartortle with a candy bar, ensure Ivysaur nothing bad would happen, and tell Charizard to not lose his temper before I sent them all on their way.

The professor asked about Pikachu, scientific curiosity wanting him to learn if Team Rocket made any more of their _'improvements'_ to him, but I didn't want to know and I didn't want to be separated from him again so soon. Professor Oak was nice enough to understand without me telling him so outright, but he _did_ expect me to bring Pikachu over to his lab when I eventually returned back to Pallet Town.

When I headed back out on the road, going west of Saffron to Route 8, I only had Pikachu and Horsea with me. It was a sore reminder that I didn't have a sixth member for my team of Pokémon yet. I spent about an hour looking around in the tall grass and bushes for a potential new member, but found nothing that struck my fancy. There were Kadabra, but they kept teleporting away. I saw a Vulpix and a Growlithe, but I already had a Fire type Pokémon in Charizard—not to mention they both needed Fire Stones to evolve, which I couldn't afford. I saw some Meowth and an Ekans and I thought about those two Team Rocket members, Jessie and James, and wondered if their Pokémon were alright. Even if _they_ were bad people, their Pokémon did nothing to deserve being experimented on. Neither did that Meowth, who apparently became that weird Persian. I wondered if _Pikachu_ would turn into something like that if he evolved... Curiosity wanted me to see, but the part of me who didn't want Pikachu to go through anymore potential pain because of Team Rocket nipped the idea in the bud.

With no desirable Pokémon around, I wound up traveling on the main road to Lavender Town. I battled a few trainers, some who didn't know who I was and others who just wanted to say they had a battle with someone famous. Despite my team having only two members, we handled ourselves just fine. In fact, during one of those battles, Horsea evolved into a Seadra! There was nothing odd or unusual about him: he was just a typical Seadra. But he looked so cool as he stood over the unconscious Muk that had been giving him trouble.

When we arrived in Lavender Town, we made a beeline for the Pokémon Center so the guys could be healed, and then headed over to the Pokémon Tower to pray to Nidorino's grave. The disturbing blood stain had long since been cleaned up, but the uppermost floor was now sealed off from the public, now only attended to by channelers and mediums whose jobs were to tend the graves and ease the souls of the occasional restless spirit. Most of the Cubone and Marowak who had survived the incident with Team Rocket had seemingly run away, out of the city, but a handful remained, wanting to stay close to their ancestors' graves.

It was…awkward, of course. I didn't exactly know what one did when visiting a graveyard. I found myself remaining silent, but speaking in my mind, thinking that maybe Nidorino could hear me. I thought about how much I missed him and how thankful I was to him for being the first Pokémon I caught and the first one to evolve in my care. I thought about how Charmander had changed and was no longer timid and how Pikachu got along well with me now. I thought about all the new friends I caught and how he probably would've liked him. I thought about how I wouldn't let what happened to him happen to anyone else I cared about.

I left soon after pouring my heart out to Nidorino in my mind and went back to the Pokémon Center. I stayed in a room for the rest of the day out of habit, bawling my eyes out in a way that was difficult to do in the Pokémon Tower. Throughout it all, Pikachu was there to comfort me until I was able to stop crying and start planning for the future. The next gym specialized in Poison type Pokémon, so Ivysaur and Wartortle would be essential. There was a Safari Zone in Fuchsia City as well, where people could walk around and capture Pokémon for a price while staring at rare or unusual specimens from around the world. I buried my sorrows in potential strategies, preparations for the trip down Route 12, and TV binging to catch up on the TV shows I didn't get the pleasure of seeing when my Pokémon hogged the remote for the rest of the day.

 **X-X-X**

The following morning, I had hoped that it would be a normal day. However, when I was heading down to the first floor, I wound up catching the conversation going on between a group of trainers nearby.

"I can't believe it! How bad could my luck be?!"

"Them's the breaks when it's Snorlax season, my friend."

"Of all the things blocking the way, it's a _Snorlax_?!"

"Then I guess we'll just have to wait until it moves."

"And how long will _that_ take?"

"Days, or weeks, or even the rest of the month. Maybe longer."

My curiosity caused me to approach the group of trainers. "Um…excuse me. I heard you talking about a Snorlax. Do you know where it's sleeping?" I hoped and prayed it wasn't on Route 12.

"It's smack dab in the middle of Route 12, right on the bridge, too!" I cursed my luck in my mind as I started to frown. "Unless you think you can beat that behemoth, I suggest you wait until it's slept off its last meal."

"I just hope it doesn't have a taste for fish. That bridge is a prime fishing spot, right?"

At that point, the conversation between the trainers changed topics and I stepped away from them. I looked at Pikachu with worry, while he seemed annoyed. He spoke to me, and I had a feeling he was thinking the same thing as me: go and force the Snorlax to leave. That would be easier said than done. There were documentaries on TV about how violent Snorlax could be when they were woken up by someone, and how most regions inhabited by them learned that leaving them alone was the best action.

But I had a schedule to keep. I was going to become the champ of the Indigo League before the end of the summer season. I couldn't afford to fall behind of Blue any further than I already had. So I walked out of the Pokémon Center determined to make the Snorlax find another place to sleep off its meals.

 **X-X-X**

Route 12 wasn't a route made up of land, but rather a long bridge. Various parts of the bridge led to platforms where fishermen occupied themselves with fishing. Its nickname, Silence Bridge, was due to the fact that everyone who fished there tended to fall into an almost unsettling silence as they braced themselves to reel in whatever Pokémon they happened to hook. Lucky for me, all of the people I passed by on the bridge that morning were fishermen who were more focused on catching Pokémon than battling with them. In fact, I don't think they even noticed me as I walked by.

Eventually, I came across a section of the bridge that connected to a spot of land. A sign said that to the west was Vermillion City, while to the south was Route 13. And lying down right behind of that sign was a Snorlax, snoring loudly and breaking the bridge's namesake silence. It was big and fat, and its fur was a dark shade of blue. It was lying down such that its feet were facing the direction towards Lavender Town. I had never seen a Snorlax in person until now. I honestly thought it would be a bit bigger height wise, but its _width_ was what made it truly big. It seemed like it would easily take five of me to match its girth, or maybe more.

"Now…how should we go about this, Pikachu?" I asked and looked at Pikachu, who rested on my shoulder. He punched the air in front of him and cried out. "I know battling it is an option, but…with only you and Seadra, I don't feel comfortable doing that." Pikachu began to look annoyed. He jumped off of my shoulder and ran up to the Snorlax's foot. "What are you…?" I trailed off when Pikachu began charging up electricity. " _No_! Don't—!"

Pikachu unleashed a bolt of electricity that shocked the Snorlax. When it stopped snoring, I expected chaos to be unleashed upon us. Instead, the Snorlax's reaction was to raise a paw, scratch its stomach, and put down its paw again before continuing to snore loudly. Pikachu stared in shock for a few seconds before he began to look upset. I grabbed hold of him and held him up in the air to prevent him from taking more action.

"I can't tell if your attack did much damage, but…Snorlax is in a deep sleep. It might not wake up on its own for a while. …Maybe I should use an Awakening on it?" I asked Pikachu. He gave me a skeptical look. "Right. Bad idea. I'm not even sure if it'd be safe to climb on top of it and wake it up. M-maybe we could just calmly convince it to go and sleep somewhere else."

As if on cue, the Snorlax stopped snoring and began to growl. It slowly sat up, yawned, and slowly turned around so that it was facing the water. The large Pokémon didn't seem to notice Pikachu and I. The growling continued and the Snorlax massaged its stomach before staring down at the water. With a grunt of effort, the Snorlax bent forward as much as its belly allowed it to, and raised a claw up into the air. It was still and quiet for a few seconds before a Magikarp came up to the water's surface. Quickly, the Snorlax's paw swiped up the Magikarp and knocked it up into the air. The Magikarp fell down and landed on the ground next to the Snorlax. It began flopping about, but one swift chop from the larger Pokémon made it stop moving. The Snorlax repeated this method for about half an hour until a large pile of Magikarp had been made. Then it began to _eat_ each Magikarp—which I'm certain were still alive—until there was nothing left another half hour later. When it was all done, the Snorlax yawned and fell over. Then it began snoring again, signaling that it had fallen asleep.

Throughout the entire event, Pikachu and I stood still, quietly watching the Snorlax. After a few seconds, I spoke up, "I guess it only pays attention to what it considers food." Pikachu began saying something in an annoyed tone, and it was directed at me. "We can't chase it off if we can't wake it up." Suddenly, I remembered something I got quite a while ago that could help out with this situation. I reached into my bag and pulled out the Poké Flute that Mr. Fuji gave to me as a present. At the sight of the flute, Pikachu recoiled. "Regardless of my flute-playing skills, Mr. Fuji said this could wake up even a Snorlax. It's our best hope." He still held his ears down in apprehension of what would've happened as I placed my lips on one end of the flute and began blowing—because what I did certainly wasn't _playing_.

In response to the discordant music notes, the Snorlax abruptly sat it. Its growling this time didn't come from its stomach, but from its own mouth. The Snorlax slowly turned its head so it was looking at me. It got up, walked over to us, and stared down at me. I stopped playing to look up at the Snorlax cautiously. It was frowning and growling, and its sleepy eyes cracked open to glare down at me. I opened my mouth to ask it to leave and it swatted the Poké Flute out of my hand, sending it into the water. And then it raised a paw up into the air with the intent to strike me down.

I ran back to avoid getting crushed beneath its paw. The force behind the attack was enough to shake the bridge and disturb the water around us. The Snorlax made to attack with another chop, but Pikachu zapped it and drew its attention. I calmed down and commanded, "Pikachu, use Thunder Wave!" Electricity crackled around Pikachu's cheeks before he zapped the larger Pokémon with a paralyzing jolt of electricity. The Snorlax responded by trying to kick Pikachu, but he managed to dodge and get around the larger Pokémon. "Swift!"

Pikachu flicked his tail and fired a ray of stars at the Snorlax. The attack hit its stomach, but didn't seem to faze it at all. The Snorlax retaliated by falling forward and squashing Pikachu with the brunt of its weight. His cry of pain was muffled under the Snorlax's fat as it squirmed around. Electricity consumed the larger Pokémon as a result of crushing Pikachu beneath it, prompting it to roll itself off of Pikachu. Pikachu was most definitely unable to battle any further. He was conscious, but from the way his body twitched, he was in too much pain to move. At that point, the Snorlax grabbed Pikachu by the tail and held him up in front of its face. Pikachu reacted by shocking the larger Pokémon, but it didn't flinch or drop him. Instead, the Snorlax licked Pikachu, receiving another shock for its trouble. The Snorlax spat on the ground and growled before tossing Pikachu into the water.

"P-PIKACHU!" I quickly grabbed Pikachu's Poké Ball as he flailed in the water, then I returned him into his ball. I looked at the Snorlax in time to see it sit on the ground and fall back to sleep once more, this time sleeping on its side. "…I can't believe this…" I muttered before looking down at my feet. "Should I even bother sending Seadra out?" It couldn't have hurt, I decided, as I took out Seadra's Poké Ball and released him. "Brute strength alone is obviously not going to be enough. Try and spray some ink in its eyes to blind it."

Seadra stared at the Snorlax warily before squirting some ink into its face. At first, it seemed like it kept sleeping through the attack. But then the Snorlax began to lick its face before spitting the ink out on the ground. Grumbling once again, it got onto its feet and made to flatten Seadra with a body slam like Pikachu before him.

"Make a twister!" Seadra began to flap his fins and created a twister around himself. The force of the twister was at least enough to push the Snorlax back. "Use Ink Shot! Aim for the head!" In the instances that the twister had dispersed, Seadra fired a ball of ink that knocked the Snorlax's head back, although the rest of its body remained still. It growled before opening its mouth, where a ball of bright yellow energy seemed to form. "Wait. Is that?"

With a roar, the Snorlax unleashed a massive beam of yellow energy from its mouth aimed at Seadra.

 **X-X-X**

" _I see… Sounds like you have one troublesome Snorlax on your hands."_ An hour later, I was back in the Lavender Town Pokémon Center, talking to Professor Oak over the phone. Pikachu and Seadra were getting healed at the moment. _"Certainly makes me glad that none of them ever come near Pallet Town. There's only one road out of town!"_

"Professor, please… I called to ask for advice."

" _Advice? On how to deal with a Snorlax?"_

"Yes, yes! If it doesn't move quickly enough, Blue will—!" I immediately shut my mouth. But the damage had been done. I could hear Professor Oak chuckling on the other end of the line. "I mean…it's very important that I get to Fuchsia City soon."

" _Heh-heh! Okay, okay, I understand. But it isn't as if it's an easy task. Snorlax are naturally strong Pokémon, and the one you encountered was obviously quite a powerful one from its use of Hyper Beam! You won't be able to just shoo it off with your Pokémon's strength—not when you only have two Pokémon with you. Your only option is to capture it!"_

"Capture? I don't want a Snorlax!" It didn't matter _how_ strong that thing was, I wouldn't be able to keep it fed on the money that wasn't spent on the necessities for a traveling trainer! Once again, Professor Oak laughed on the other end of the line. "Professor, seriously!"

" _I_ _ **am**_ _serious! Snorlax, as I'm sure you've realized, has a bad habit of sleeping as well as eating. Some people luck out by throwing a Poké Ball at them while they're asleep and capturing them!"_

That actually seemed like a sound method. In trainer school, we had been taught that Pokémon were easier to catch when they were suffering from a particular ailment, and being put to sleep was one such ailment. "That _sounds_ like a good idea, but…would it work?"

" _Maybe. If it falls into a deep enough sleep on its own, it might not even struggle while it's in the ball. If not, it might wake up while it's still in the ball, break out, and attack you in retaliation. Anything could happen."_

"Like a near death experience with a Hyper Beam," I found myself muttering.

" _If you should happen to encounter it while it's awake, try to injure it and tire it out so that it will use Rest!"_

"Rest? Isn't that a bit…detrimental to my cause?"

" _It's true that Rest heals the Pokémon that uses it, but as a consequence, they fall asleep for a short while. Wild Snorlax tend to go to sleep after they defeat an opponent regardless of whether or not they eat them."_ I wish he hadn't said that. The Snorlax seemed like it had a thing for seafood, and if I hadn't returned Seadra fast enough, he'd have been a second course meal after all those Magikarp. _"If necessary, use that as an opportunity!"_

"And if I _do_ catch it? What am I supposed to do with a Snorlax?"

" _You could always release it as soon as you've gotten where you need to go. Or deposit it into the Pokémon Storage box assigned to you. Or you could simply keep it! Blue doesn't have a Snorlax, you know."_ Because Blue is smart enough to know he literally can't afford to raise one. _"Dare I even suggest…sending it over to me? I don't have any Snorlax to examine at the moment anyway!"_

"You mean you'd take care of it for me? …Even feed it?"

"… _Sadly, yes. In the name of research, I'll even feed a Snorlax. Regardless, you can't decide what to do with the Snorlax if you don't have it! Go out there and catch it!"_

"Yes, sir. Goodbye." I hung up on the professor and sighed. "Now all I have to do is think of a way to tire out a Snorlax…" I took out my Pokédex and began looking up information on Snorlax. "Gotta think of something, or else…" I thought of Blue's smirking face and gripped my Pokédex tightly.

 **X-X-X**

Just like last time, I made my way down the Silence Bridge towards the spot where the Snorlax had been. It was lying down on its stomach, facing me and snoring loudly. As I took out an Ultra Ball, I heard Pikachu make a noise of discontent and looked down to see him frowning, his arms folded across his chest as he stared up at me. "I know you most likely don't want to be on a same team with that Snorlax, but I'm not even sure if I'm going to keep it, let alone have it on the team. Besides, that thing's like a mountain of fat. We can't move it by normal means and I doubt we'd be able to chase it away" Pikachu began muttering under his breath. "Let's pray it'll just stay in the ball and won't try to pop out when it wakes up."

I took a deep breath, tightened my grip on the ball for a few seconds throwing it at the Snorlax's face. It disappeared into the ball in the blink of an eye. The ball dropped to the ground and began to shake. One time…two times…three times… It clicked and I gave a breath of relief along with Pikachu. But as I was about to pick up the Ultra Ball, it burst open and the Snorlax popped out…landing on top of the Poké Ball. The Snorlax stood with a look of annoyance on its face. It flexed its claws before pulling an arm back to punch. I dropped to the ground and felt a rush of air when it punched the spot I had been standing in.

"Pikachu, Thunder Wave!" At my cry, Pikachu unleashed a jolt of paralyzing electricity. The Snorlax's movements were slowed as a result, so I had enough time to get up and put enough distance between us that I wouldn't worry about being hit. "Slam!" Pikachu jumped at the Snorlax, flipping in midair to smack it with his tail. The Snorlax was just quick enough to raise an arm to try and block the attack, but it seemed that Pikachu still did some damage. As Pikachu landed on the ground, the Snorlax fell forward, aiming to squash him with a Body Slam. "Dodge with Agility and use Slam!" In the blink of an eye, Pikachu managed to jump over the larger Pokémon and landed behind it. Seconds afterwards, the Snorlax was struck in the back just as it began to do its Body Slam, making it fall flat on its face. Still not feeling if it would be enough, I sent out Seadra. "Do you think you can poison the Snorlax with your fins?"

As I asked that, the Snorlax found it in itself to get back onto its feet. It hopped once, the impact of its landing shaking the land beneath me as well as the bridge. While our balance was disturbed, the Snorlax began walking forward and aimed to strike me and Seadra down with a punch. Pikachu intervened by jumping on top of the Snorlax's head and unleashing a jolt of electricity to distract it. The bigger Pokémon raised an arm to smack him off, but it shuddered in the air, stopped by paralysis. Seadra hopped and spun around before landing on the ground, pointing his sharp fins in the direction of the Snorlax. Seadra jumped backwards an impressive distance and stabbed his fins into the Snorlax's stomach, getting shocked by Pikachu in the process. The Snorlax yelped in pain before falling back, its landing causing the ground to shake once more. It grabbed hold of both Pikachu and Seadra before chucking both of them into the water. I almost panicked until I realized that Pikachu had hitched a ride with Seadra, both of them floating easily in the water. At the same time, the Snorlax began to yawn, signaling that it was about to fall asleep.

"Now! Before it recovers!" I spoke to myself as I took out another Ultra Ball. As I threw the ball at the Snorlax, I hoped that it wouldn't destroy this one. It went disappeared inside of the Ultra Ball, which shook for a few seconds before breaking apart, releasing the Snorlax once more. This time, it was lying down on its side, snoring loudly as it slept. Although it was asleep, it was enough of an aggressive sleeper to break out of the ball. I couldn't help groaning as Pikachu and Seadra joined me back on land. "This is starting to get aggravating… What I wouldn't do to have that Master Ball at this point." Pikachu began to speak and gestured to the open water as I took out another Ultra Ball. "I am _not_ swimming. For one thing…I don't know how to swim." I threw the Ultra Ball at the Snorlax and watched it disappear inside once again. "And even if I _did_ know how, this place is probably full of Tentacool and Krabby…maybe even Gyarados." Pikachu and Seadra gave me skeptical looks before the Ultra Ball shook once and the Snorlax broke free again. It was now lying on its stomach, completely unaware of what was going on.

For the next half-hour, I went through several of the Poké Balls at my disposal. Those expensive Ultra Balls I had bought recently for the sake of catching the Snorlax ran out in an instant. The Great Balls I had saved up over the journey, had picked up when they seemed to have been dropped and forgotten, were next. I went through most of the Poké Balls I had until I had only seven left. The remains of all those broken balls lying around the still-sleeping Snorlax was so disheartening…

"Is this really happening? It just won't stay inside of the ball…!" I was going to complain more, but then my stomach began to growl. I had spent so much time trying to capture the Snorlax that it had become afternoon before I even noticed. I glanced at the Snorlax, making sure that it was still asleep before deciding that it was best to take a break. "It's lunchtime," I muttered, slipping an unused Poké Ball back into my bag and taking out a small pack of cookies. Pikachu spoke up, sounding annoyed as I began opening the pack. "If it didn't wake up after all of the Poké Balls I threw, it'll stay asleep while I have a little snack." Pikachu continued to voice his discontent, flailing his arms in the air when I finally opened the pack and took out a cookie. But as I was about to put one into my mouth to eat, a large shadow was cast over me.

The Snorlax, despite its size and weight, somehow managed to come closer without any of us noticing. It didn't seem to be in an aggressive mood anymore. It was just staring down at us—or rather, it was staring down at _me_. It drooled, but then wiped it away to resume staring down at me. It took a few seconds for me to realize that it was staring at the cookie in my hand. I held out the cookie and the Snorlax's mouth opened, seemingly holding its breath. I moved the cookie left and right and it turned its head to follow.

"…Do you want this?" I found myself asking. My tone was flat, because _of course_ , after making me waste my Poké Balls, it now wanted me to waste my cookies on feeding it. The Snorlax nodded, smiling. "If I give you my cookie, will you move out of the way?" It nodded again, and I wondered if it really understood. It seemed to have been mesmerized by the cookie. "Do you promise?" Another nod. "Okay… Here…"

I cautiously held out the cookie and the Snorlax immediately snatched it out of my hand, somehow managing not to break it in the process. The large Pokémon held the cookie in front of its face, as if observing it. It sniffed the cookie, then licked it, and finally ate it whole. The Snorlax's eyes popped open as a large smile appeared on its face. The Snorlax began bouncing from foot to foot as it clapped its paws together, which naturally caused the ground to shake. When it was done celebrating, the big blue Pokémon pointed at its mouth, as if asking for another cookie.

"No, you promised that you would move if I gave you the cookie." The Snorlax whined and bent over so that it was now face-to-face with me. It continued pointing at its mouth, begging for more cookies. I looked down at Pikachu and Seadra, hoping they would help me out. But Pikachu just sighed while Seadra looked at the Snorlax with pity. I looked back to the Snorlax and jumped when I realized its eyes were open once more. Its eyes had become unusually large and watery, like a baby's eyes. Despite how unusual it looked for a Pokémon like a Snorlax to have eyes like that, it was a heartwrenching sight. "Oh... Okay! I'll give you the rest of my cookies. But…" I reached into my bag and took out a Poké Ball. "But you have to go into this ball and stay in there until I let you out to get the cookies. Okay?" The Snorlax whined once more. "Fine, I'll give you another one." I held out another cookie and it snatched it out of my hand once more, skipping right to eating it. "Now, into the ball." I threw the Poké Ball against the Snorlax's stomach and it disappeared into the Poké Ball. The ball shook a few times before clicking, signaling that the Snorlax had been caught. I waited for a few seconds, expecting it to break out and destroy the ball like it did the others, but it didn't happen. "…Seriously? That was all that it took?" I asked myself. I looked at Pikachu and Seadra, who looked just as confused as I was feeling. "That was all it took… I wasted all those Poké Balls and _that_ was what it took. Why am I even wasting time complaining? Let's get going," I said as I returned Seadra into his ball. "There are three more routes to go before we can get to Fuchsia City." My stomach growled, reminding me that I had yet to eat. I'd feel bad if I finished off the cookies after promising them to the Snorlax, so I wound up eating a Sitrus berry to hold myself over.

The things I had to do to keep up with Blue…

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **On Route 8, Ekans and Growlithe can be found in Red version, Vulpix and Meowth in Blue version, and Kadabra (along with Abra) in Yellow version.**

 **Snorlax learns Mega Kick and Mega Punch via TM.**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


	16. Chapter 16 - The Poisonous Ninja Master

_Disclaimer : Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Just this fic._

 _Summary : Although he doesn't have all his Pokémon yet, when he hears that Blue is missing one last gym badge, Red is raring to challenge the Fuchsia City Gym. But can his Pokémon stand up to the style of the Poisonous Ninja Master?_

 **X-X-X**

After we got to Fuchsia City—which took a _really_ long time because there were about four routes between it and Lavender Town—Red sent away that Snorlax he caught. I would've preferred that he released it back into the wild, but I guess the big lug managed to win his heart somehow. Red actually gave him the rest of the cookies he promised him before sending him away, since Snorlax had fallen so in love with the stuff that he behaved. Snorlax was so grateful that he picked up Red, hugged him, and _licked_ him. He wasn't trying to _eat_ him, thankfully, but it was really messy and weird when he said Red "tasted like love". I could only hope that we never saw that Snorlax again. Red's already strained for cash when it comes to feeding all of his Pokémon and that Snorlax seemed like just another weirdo. Plus, I hadn't quite forgiven him for almost squishing me to death.

The following day, we went to a place called a zoo. From what I could tell, it was a place where people paid to see Pokémon that they couldn't see anywhere else. There were Chansey, which I'd only ever seen in the Pokémon Centers helping nurses and doctors, a big blue creature with a shell on its back called a Lapras, some things called Kangaskhan who carried their young in pouches on their bellies, and ancient Pokémon that the humans said had been revived from fossils. Red was in awe of the place, but I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. A zoo felt like the Rocket Labs. Granted, the Pokémon didn't look as depressed and their cages were actually pretty spacious and made to be comfortable for each kind that lived in them, but I couldn't help what I felt from being there. I wondered if Charizard, Ivysaur and Wartortle would feel the same if they saw this place, or if it was just me being paranoid.

The trip through the Safari Zone that came afterwards was better. Along with several other humans, Red and I took a ride through what was called a Pokémon preserve. It was like the zoo because people paid to see Pokémon, but instead of being in cages, these humans rode around in some kind of car and saw Pokémon living freely in the wild—well, semi-freely. Everyone would take pictures with cameras and stare in awe whenever we paused a particularly rare creature or saw something amazing, like a pair of young Kangaskhan playing together while their mothers watched or a Dratini jumping out of the water. Red had fun checking off everything he saw with his Pokédex. I had more fun just riding in a car for the first time.

After the tour, we were told about the Safari Game, where people could walk around and catch the rare Pokémon we saw while on the tour. Once again, people had to pay money to do that. I thought this was a problem since Red had been complaining about how much it would cost to take care of a Snorlax just the other day, but he excused away any problems by saying "The proceeds are going to charity." But at least Red seemed happy with how the day was going.

Which led us to where we were now, standing in the middle of some grasslands. Red was staring at a map of the area that he'd been given, trying to make sense of where we were. "I think we're in area 3. Let's hope we run into something rare that I'm willing to catch…or is willing to be caught."

"You should've just let me shock them," I said as I ate from the bag of bait that Red had to use to tame the wild Pokémon around here. I didn't expect to like the stuff as much as I did, but it smelled so good and tasted even better. Plus, it wasn't like Red had any luck convincing Pokémon to stick around long enough to be caught after he gave them some. If I didn't move quickly, it would all be gone!

"I'd have to get lucky to catch something. This whole game's about luck and chance— Pikachu! Don't eat the bait!"

I looked up at Red's glaring face. "Why not? There's lots and you're not gonna catch anything," I spoke with a full mouth as the grass next to me rustled.

Red stopped looking at the map and began looking around the area. "I think I see a Rhyhorn over there… Rock and Ground type. Pretty tough. Evolves into Rhydon, which is also pretty tough." He suddenly frowned. "But it'll just remind me of the one owned by the Rocket boss…" He looked around some more. "Is that a Chansey? No, wait… I think that's just a rock."

"Let _me_ take a look," I said as I left the bag on the ground to jump onto Red's shoulder and climb onto his head. I began looking around, seeing bright green bugs known as Scyther buzzing across the grassland, Marowak fighting each other, and Tangela running off into the bushes. But it was the sound of a familiar material crinkling near Red that made me look down in time to see something flailing its tiny brown legs in the air while it was almost entirely in the bag of bait. "Hey! That's mine!" I shouted, pointing down at the food thief.

"Huh?" Red looked down at the bag as well. "What's that?" Red crouched down and pulled the food thief out of the bag. An Eevee stared at him with big watery eyes while a big hunk of bait remained in its mouth. It attempted to growl to intimidate us, but its growling was muffled by the food it was in the middle of chewing. "An Eevee!"

"A _thieving_ Eevee! Go steal your own food! That's _mine_!" I shouted as electricity crackled around my cheeks.

"Pikachu, stop. You're scaring it." The Eevee was shaking in Red's hands, but was still focused on eating. "You're the only Pokémon who's come this close and hasn't tried to attack us. If you want some food, you're welcome to it."

The Eevee looked stunned for a moment before swallowing and shouting in surprise, "Really?! I can eat all of it?! Oh, boy!" Red put the small Pokémon on the ground, where he buried his head into the bag once more.

"Red…! Why do you like to give food to strange Pokémon? Especially _my_ food?!" I couldn't help complaining.

"Calm down, Pikachu," Red insisted as he rubbed my ear. "I'll give you a candy bar later."

"Yeah, calm down, Pikachu!" The Eevee piped up with a mouth full of bait, crumbs staining his fur. A look of realization then appeared in his eyes. "Wait! Did you say _candy_?" He approached Red's leg and stood up on his hind legs to paw at him. "I want candy, too! Gimme candy! Pretty please!"

"Is that your way of saying you want to be my Pokémon?"

"If it means you'll give me candy, sure!" The Eevee nodded excitedly.

Red smiled. "That settles it then." He took out one of the Safari Balls he'd been given. "Go in here and don't move, okay?" He lightly tapped the Eevee on the head with the ball and it disappeared inside. The ball only shook once more before clicking. Then, as quickly as it had been caught, the Eevee's ball disappeared in the blink of an eye.

A loud chime went off from somewhere in the park. _"Ding-dong! Time's up! The Safari Game is over! Everyone please return to the front area to claim the Pokémon you've caught!"_

"What is it with you being a sucker for Pokémon who beg for food?" I muttered as Red began the long walk back to the Safari Zone entrance. "Mark my words, that guy's gonna be nothing but trouble!"

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 16: The Poisonous Ninja Master!~_

For the next couple of days, we had to get used to Eevee's presence while also training to take on our sixth gym challenge. The latter was easier than the former, because Eevee, like I predicted, was a tiny nuisance in brown fur. An honest to goodness spoiled brat. I didn't think a wild Pokémon had such a personality, and as it turns out, I was right. You see, Eevee are very rare Pokémon. The people who ran the Safari Zone couldn't find many in the wild to save, so they wound up breeding their own. The little Eevee, born and raised in captivity, were tended to no differently than pets—very rare and cherished pets. And Red had the misfortune of catching one that was practically a spoiled brat.

"I'm tired of training! Training's boring!" Eevee complained one day. We had been left alone in the room—just me, Seadra and our annoying new teammate. The little furball had made himself nice and comfortable on the bed, and he had somehow claimed the remote and control of the TV.

"You wanna be in our group, you're gonna train," I stated as Seadra and I stared up at him. "Besides, Red wants you to evolve into something in particular. Training is necessary for that. Not to mention, it'll help you get stronger! Why, just look at Seadra!" I gestured to Seadra, who suddenly began to pose in an attempt to look cool. "He used to be a small, weak Horsea—"

"Hey!" Seadra spoke up, suddenly upset. "I wasn't weak!"

"Fine. After evolving, he became stronger, sturdier, and more capable of defending himself and Red!"

"That just proves how _dumb_ he is," Eevee spoke before sticking his tongue out at as.

"Who're you calling dumb?!" Seadra snapped.

"You, obviously!"

A vein became visible on Seadra's head and began to throb. He reared his head back, as if preparing to shoot the smaller Pokémon with ink. I couldn't help but be concerned. "H-hey! Don't do—!" Seadra released a spray of water that soaked Eevee completely. "Oh. I thought you were gonna do something worse." I think I would've _preferred_ if he did something worse than just make the little fuzz ball wet, but I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey! That's not funny!" Eevee growled.

"Maybe not to _you_ , but it is to _me_!" I continued laughing until the wet furball jumped off of the bed and attempted a midair tackle. But I easily stepped aside and Eevee wound up rolling along the carpet until he hit a wall. "And _that_ is why you train."

Before the situation could get worse, the door opened and Red entered the room. He looked at the three of us and stared with a blank expression. "…Should I even ask if you three were behaving?" Without answering his own question, Red approached us, took out a Poké Ball, and sent out Ivysaur. "Welcome back Ivysaur, everybody."

"Oh, thank goodness! I'm glad a bearable person is around!" I exclaimed as I jumped forward to hug Ivysaur's head and kiss it. "I mean, aside from Seadra."

Ivysaur looked surprised for a brief moment. "Um… Okay. What did I miss?"

"I evolved," Seadra proclaimed. "Then Red caught a Snorlax, and then he caught that Eevee over there. But he's, um…he's sort of unfriendly."

"He's a brat," I put more bluntly.

Ivysaur stared at Eevee, who was staring back at him with increased wariness. "So long as he's not as bad as Wartortle, I don't care."

Red walked up to Eevee and crouched down in front of him. "What's the matter? Ivysaur won't bite."

"You don't know that. You don't know what _any_ of them could do," Eevee said with a frown before Red began to pet him.

"You're all wet." Red looked at Seadra. "You weren't messing around, were you? As if I don't know the answer…"

"We were just having fun!" Seadra exclaimed.

"Some of us more than others," I added with a shrug.

"Please don't mess around in here. You might ruin something." Red cleared his throat before he spoke again. "Anyway, since we have Ivysaur back, I think we should challenge the Fuchsia Gym tomorrow. After Ivysaur gets a bit of training, of course." He looked at Ivysaur and turned around so he could stroke his head. "You can't be poisoned, but you're not exactly resistant against Poison type attacks. We don't know what surprises the gym leader might have in store, either. The last one did with that Venomoth of hers'."

"Ugh, it's a _Poison type_ gym, too. That means that Red's probably gonna wind up using those nasty needles on us," I said with a shudder.

 **X-X-X**

The following day, we left the Pokémon Center and headed to the Fuchsia Gym. It was a big, fancy-looking building, like the ones I once saw on TV. It really stuck out from the smaller and more normal-looking houses that were nearby. Red paused in front of the sliding doors to take a deep breath. Then he grabbed one of the doors, slid it to the side and entered the gym. Inside, there was nothing but a wooden sign that was sticking out of the straw floor.

"Welcome to the Fuchsia Gym, challenger. Here, you will be tasked with the responsibility of trying to find the gym leader, Koga, before you can battle him. However, the gym is rigged with tricks and traps to make it difficult to navigate. Your patience shall be put to the test. Signed the ninjas of Fuchsia Gym." Red looked down at me. "Another gym where we've got to solve puzzles."

"They could've at least given a hint or something," I mumbled from my spot on Red's shoulder as he began to walk around the room. He moved his hands across the walls, pausing every few seconds to tap on them. "And what are _you_ doing?"

"I saw this on a TV show once. If this is a place with tricks and traps, there has to be a hidden passage somewhere that leads to another part of the house. It'd be impossible to move any further if there wasn't."

"Oh… That's sneaky," I said with a smirk before Red suddenly fell into a wall and I fell with him. Red landed face first on the floor and I wound up tumbling forward, stopping when I reached someone's feet. I found myself looking up at the face of a serious-looking man who was dressed in strange-looking dark clothing and wearing a long red scarf.

The man stared at us with a stoic expression before he started chuckling. "Hahaha! A mere child dares to challenge Koga, the Poisonous Ninja Master?"

" _You're_ Koga?" Red asked as he got to his feet and took a few steps forward, only to be stopped when the man raised a hand.

"Whether or not I am Koga will not matter if you cannot defeat me in a Pokémon battle!" Koga swung his arm and a Poké Ball came flying out of his sleeve. In a flash of light, of all the things to appear, it was just a Golbat that had its wings folded in front of its big mouth. It stood in front of Red, leering down at me.

"I'll use my Pikachu," Red announced.

"Seriously?" I couldn't help complaining. Golbat were practically _born_ to be annoying. "Why can't you send Eevee out fight it? Teach _him_ a lesson…"

"Don't think that a type advantage will mean victory for you. You'll fall prey to my Pokémon's techniques!" Koga raised a hand in the air and made a gesture. "Golbat, use Haze!" Koga's Golbat spread its wings open to breathe out a thick cloud of black smoke that filled the room. "Now give it a bite!"

"Charge up to defend yourself!" I heard Red shout. I narrowed my eyes and began to charge up. Electricity crackled all over my body. My eyes darted all over as I kept a lookout for the Golbat. But before I knew it, I was knocked to the floor, and I suddenly felt fangs sink into my skin. I couldn't help screaming out in pain. "Thunderbolt!" Red probably couldn't see what was going on, but he was still giving commands. I zapped the Golbat and made it take to the air above me.

"Confuse Ray!" The Golbat became temporarily visible as its body lit up. The light blinded me for a second, but even when I could see clearly again, what little of the room I could see seemed to start spinning. "Bite it again!"

"Use Swift!" Easier said than done. It seemed like there were three Golbat flying around my head before they all swooped in at the same time. I attempted to spin about and flick a barrage of stars at the real Golbat, but I wound up losing my balance and fell over. This time, the Golbat grabbed me with its fangs and took off into the air with me, where it sank its fangs deeper and deeper into my body. "Thunderbolt!" I focused on the Golbat carrying me and zapped it. It cried out in pain and let go of me before falling to the floor itself. We landed at the same time, the Golbat landing on top of me.

"Use Leech Life!" I heard Koga command before the haze dispersed, revealing the results of the battle. "…WHAT?! Golbat, no!" The weight of the Golbat vanished from on top of me as it was returned to its Poké Ball. About the same time, the room stopped spinning and I was able to think clearly. I felt myself being picked up by Red and petted behind one of my ears. The petting stopped once Koga walked up to us. "Humph! Very well then! You've proven your worth! Take this Soul Badge!" He held out his hand, revealing a bright pink badge.

"That's it?" Red asked. "Just one Pokémon?"

"Hey, don't complain. That was easy! I didn't even get poisoned _once_!" I exclaimed.

Red took the badge and stared at it. "There's…something strange about this badge." As soon as he said that, the badge exploded in a burst of smoke. Red gave a shout of surprise and dropped the smoking badge.

Koga smirked and was suddenly engulfed in smoke as well. When the smoke cleared, he was wearing a cloth around his face that only showed his eyes and he seemed shorter. "Heh-heh-heh! You really thought that it would be so easy? The _real_ Koga is hidden somewhere in this gym. But so are _we_ , Master Koga's disciples in the art of ninjutsu!" And then he vanished into a puff of smoke.

"I _knew_ it couldn't be so easy," Red spoke under his breath.

I sighed as my mood deflated. "I _wish_ it could've been so easy…"

"On the other hand, that _was_ kind of cool. Who'd have thought there really _were_ ninjas here?"

"Please don't gush over the guy who tricked us," I said as Red set about searching for more secret entrances.

 **X-X-X**

So, we wound up traveling through the entire Fuchsia Gym. There were hidden passages in the walls, invisible walls, holes in the floor, secret tunnels, and plenty of ninjas who were all impersonating Koga. Oh, and antidotes. Lots of antidotes had to be given to those of us who wound up getting poisoned—and I was one of them. Our time at this gym wasn't even finished yet and I had already thought of it as the worst gym ever.

"Finally. We've found the stairs," Red spoke, snapping me out of my thoughts. We'd wound up falling through a trap door in the floor after beating another fake Koga and landed into a long tunnel with paper lanterns lining the walls. Now, after minutes of walking, we'd finally found a set of stairs that seemed to be leading back up to the surface.

"At last! Fresh air! Fresher than _this_ , at least!" I exclaimed, running up the stairs only to hit the ceiling in my haste.

Red joined me up at the head of the stairs and touched the ceiling. "…There seems to be a hatch. Hang on a second." He touched the hatch and pushed it up slowly, and with one strong push, Red made hatch open all the way, letting the light in. We got out of the tunnel and wound up in a hallway. And at the end of the hallway were doors. Just a normal set of sliding doors. Red and I approached the doors and he slid one to the side before we entered an unfamiliar room.

Unlike the other rooms we had been in, this one had a shiny wooden floor. This wooden floor had a familiar Poké Ball-shaped symbol painted on it in black. One of the walls was lined with several sliding doors, all closed until suddenly, they slid open on their own. A strong wind blew into the room, forcing me to cover my eyes. When I opened them again, I jumped when I noticed something that hadn't been there before: about a half-dozen ninjas who were kneeling on the floor on the other side of the room. Their heads were bowed and they paid Red and me no mind.

Then a small twister of wind formed on the side of the battlefield opposite of where Red and I were standing. When the twister dispersed, another Koga appeared with his arms folded across his chest. "Greetings, challenger. I am Koga, the leader of this gym."

"Are you _really_ Koga?" Red and I asked at the same time.

The Koga standing in front of us gave a short laugh. "Do my disciples have you doubting your eyes? Very well then! Let me show you the terror of facing a ninja master! You will feel the despair of our poisonous techniques!" He held up three fingers. "Three Pokémon. Whoever has three Pokémon fall first will be the loser. Maybe you'll be lucky and make it past my first choice."

Like the Koga imposters, he swung his arm and a Poké Ball came flying out of his sleeve. In a flash of light, the ball opened to release a Muk. "A Muk. In that case…" Red sent out Seadra.

Koga held up a hand and made a gesture with it. "Muk, use Poison Gas!" The Muk opened its mouth and breathed out a cloud of purple smoke that covered our side of the battlefield. Seadra flinched, unable to stop himself from breathing in the poison.

"Use Ink Shot!" Seadra reared back his head and fired a ball of Ink into the Muk's face. The ink was absorbed into the sludgy Pokémon's body, but it still did damage. "Again!"

"Substitute!" As another shot of ink was fired at the Muk, it did something surprising. It fell to the floor, becoming a pool of sludge to dodge Seadra's attack. Then the pool split apart and became two smaller Muk. "Sludge!" The two Muk swung their hands at the same time, sending a blob of sludge flying at Seadra.

"Um, jump!" Seadra jumped up into the air to avoid getting hit by the sludge. "Bubble Beam!" From up in the air, Seadra rained bubbles down onto the two Muk. He landed on the floor, easily keeping his balance. "Isn't this cheating? Using two Pokémon at once?"

"It's still the same Muk. He's simply using Substitute in a different way. If you think it's impossible to win, just forfeit."

"Tch. Seadra, use Smokescreen!" Seadra breathed out a thick cloud of black smoke that surrounded the pair of Muk, blinding them. "Bubble Beam!" Another barrage of bubbles was fired at the two Sludge Pokémon. One of the Muk suddenly collapsed before turning into a puddle of purple sludge. The remaining Muk slid over the puddle and grew bigger after touching and absorbing it. "Ink Shot!"

"Use Disable!" The Muk's eyes glowed bright blue before it bellowed. When Seadra tried to attack, all he could do was a pathetic squirt of ink. "Sludge!" With a flick of its hand, the Muk launched a glob of poisonous sludge at Seadra. When it hit, it knocked him over. "Again!"

"Bubble Beam!" From his spot on the floor, Seadra fired a barrage of bubbles at the Muk just as it launched another attack. Both of their attacks hit their marks. The Muk cried out before collapsing onto the floor, falling unconscious. Seadra flinched from his poisoning before fainting from the pain. "Darn…! Double knockout…" Red muttered as he returned Seadra into his ball and sent him out once more to tend to him. A shot of antidote and a taste of a Revive was enough to bring him back to consciousness, even if he wasn't in any condition to fight.

"Well then! Perhaps this shall be interesting," Koga spoke as he called back his Muk. "For my next Pokémon, I choose my Weezing!" With another flick of his arm, a Poké Ball came flying out and released a Weezing.

"Pikachu," was all Red said as he looked down at me.

I gave a salute and said, "Leave it to me!" I ran out onto the battlefield and stood a few feet away from the Weezing floating in midair. The Weezing narrowed its eyes and smirked, making the usually dumb-looking Pokémon seem more intimidating.

"Pikachu, use Agility and misdirect it!" I dashed forward, my body becoming lighter and faster in the process. I ran all over the battlefield, the Weezing struggling to keep up even with its two sets of eyes.

"Stop it with Toxic!" The Weezing grew larger for a few seconds before unleashing blasts of purple gas from its pores.

I slowed down to cough and stopped completely to cover my nose. My body felt weaker than what ordinary poisoning was capable of doing, and I already knew from the other experiences in this gym what this meant: I was _badly_ poisoned. I learned that the difference between normal poisoning and bad poisoning was that bad poisoning got worse and worse over time, making it more difficult to stay conscious through than ordinary poisoning—and almost everyone in the Fuchsia Gym liked to use strong poison.

"It's in a gaseous form?!" Red gasped.

"It's far more difficult to avoid this way than as a mere liquid. But that's not all my Weezing can do! Weezing, hardened sludge spikes!" At Koga's command, the Weezing closed its eyes and its body began to shudder. Then black spikes suddenly rose out of most of its holes, the only open ones being the ones that lined the bottom of its bodies. "Now, Tackle!" The Weezing smirked and stared down at me once more before lunging at me, aiming to ram its spike-covered body into me, but I darted to the right to avoid getting hit. "Sludge!"

"Thunder Wave!" Red finally gotten over his shock of this Weezing's strange attacks to command me. I zapped the Weezing with just enough electricity to paralyze it just as it belched out a powerful stream of black sludge. I wasn't able to move fast enough to dodge the oncoming attack and got hit with sludge. "Thunderbolt!" Trying my best to ignore the smell and the increasing pain coursing through my body, I charged up and shocked the Weezing with a bolt of electricity.

"Tackle!" The Weezing flew straight into me, stabbing into me with one of its spikes sticking out of its side.

"Thunderbolt, again!"

"Sludge!"

I zapped the Weezing just seconds before it unleashed another stream of sludge from its mouth, the force behind it pushing me back. I landed on the floor in a puddle of poisonous sludge.

"Swift!" Before Koga could command his Weezing again, I forced myself to jump back onto my feet and flicked my tail, firing a barrage of stars at my opponent. The attack hit it right in the eyes and had enough force behind it to send the Weezing flying back before falling to the floor. The spikes sticking out of it melted down into liquid sludge and its eyes became blank white, having fallen unconscious.

I crawled back over to Red's side of the field before finally collapsing at his feet. I saw Red as he crouched down and felt the familiar pain of the antidote needle sticking into me before relief came. Well, relief from the poisoning. I still stank like a Grimer and was exhausted from what I'd been through. I ignored Red holding out my Poké Ball to return me in favor of settling myself next to him, keeping my distance to try and not distract him with my scent. "I want…to see…you _beat him_ ," I spoke darkly as I looked up at my trainer.

Red stared at me with a blank expression before putting my Poké Ball away and standing up. "…Suit yourself." As soon as he spoke, Koga had sent out his next Pokémon. It was a Venomoth—not a weird-looking one like what Sabrina used, but an ordinary Venomoth. It fluttered in midair, moving from side to side. In response, Red wound up sending out Ivysaur. "Eevee doesn't know anything that would help him fight an airborne enemy. Most of Ivysaur's attacks are all resisted by Venomoth, but at least he won't be affected by any of the ailments it can cause," Red spoke out loud to himself.

"At least _one_ of us won't get poisoned," I moaned.

"Venomoth! Supersonic!" Koga commanded. His Venomoth stopped fluttering back and forth and began flapping its wings violently as it gave an annoying high-pitched cry. Ivysaur flinched, unable to stop himself from listening to the noise. "Now, use Gust!" The Venomoth continued flapping its wings, creating a strong gust of cutting wind. Ivysaur looked as if he tried to move one way while his feet went another, leading to him tripping before getting hit by the attack.

"Restrain it with Vine Whip!" Red commanded. A pair of vines slipped out from under the leaves of Ivysaur's flower and shot towards the Venomoth.

"Double Team!" Koga's Venomoth split into two when Ivysaur's vines wrapped around it, then those two split up into two more Venomoth. Eventually, there were six Venomoth fluttering back and forth around Ivysaur. "Psychic!" The eyes of each Venomoth glowed bright blue before Ivysaur was hit from above by a psychic force.

"Keep using Vine Whip! Two at once!" Ivysaur manipulated his vines so they could lash at the various Venomoth. But the vines wound up getting tangled up when the numbers dwindled back down to one, thanks to his confusion messing with his mind. Ivysaur became preoccupied with undoing the knot in his vines.

"Gust again!"

"Leech Seed!" The purple flower bud on Ivysaur's back spat out several small seeds that landed on the Venomoth before it could start flapping its wings. The seeds opened and vines grew out of them instantly, wrapping the Venomoth up in vines. Its wings were restrained in the process, being tied down to its back, and the big bug fell to the floor helplessly. The vines glowed bright green as they drained energy from the Venomoth, and Ivysaur glowed the same color as he received the energy.

"Free yourself with Psychic!"

"Distract it with Perfume!"

" _Perfume_?" I spoke up. "Is _that_ what we're calling it now?"

As the Venomoth's eyes glowed bright blue, so did the vines wrapped around its body. Meanwhile, Ivysaur's flower bud shuddered before a thick pink cloud wafted out from its small opening and towards the Venomoth. The cloud surrounded the Venomoth and seemed to distract it. Its eyes stopped glowing and so did the vines as it enjoyed the sweet smell of Ivysaur's perfume. During that time, Ivysaur's confusion seemed to fade away and he managed to untangle his vines.

"Tackle!" Red commanded as he pointed forward. Ivysaur lowered his head and charged towards the Venomoth, ramming into it. The Venomoth was sent tumbling back, landing flat on its back. "Again!"

"Double Team!" Ivysaur managed to tackle into the Venomoth one more time before it divided into about a dozen copies of itself—all surrounding Ivysaur with their wings bound up by vines. "Now, use Leech Life!" The Venomoth and its copies and skittered towards Ivysaur with amazing speed before jumping on top of him. Each Venomoth sank its fangs into Ivysaur at the same time, but only the real one glowed bright green when it did.

"There! Grab the glowing one!" Both of Ivysaur's vines wrapped around the Venomoth and pulled it off of his body, its copies disappearing in the process. "Slam it!"

"Supersonic!"

Ivysaur raised the Venomoth up into the air to slam it down onto the floor. While it was up there, the Venomoth gave an earsplitting cry that made Ivysaur flinch, but that couldn't make him let go. But it _did_ make him confused enough to throw the Venomoth up to the ceiling rather than down to the floor. Luckily, it had the same effect. The bug Pokémon was thrown against the ceiling and fell to the floor. It took a few seconds before the Venomoth was able to recover and get back onto its feet. But it seemed like it was on its last legs.

"Finish it off with Tackle!"

"Restrain it with Psychic!" Ivysaur charged forward, only to be held in place when the Venomoth's eyes glowed again. "Now, free yourself!" The vines surrounding the bug Pokémon began to glow bright blue again. With its psychic power, the Venomoth made the vines tear apart so that its wings were free, but the vines still clung to its body as it took to the air again. "Use Gust!" As Ivysaur's body stopped glowing with psychic power, the Venomoth flapped its wings violently and unleashed a powerful burst of wind and blew him back.

"Sludge!" The tips of Ivysaur's vines split apart before spraying out streams of dark sludge at the Venomoth. I don't know if Ivysaur was just faster to attack or if the Venomoth was finally feeling exhausted, but when the attack hit, the Venomoth fell to the floor and landed on its back. Its small legs kicked in the air and its wings fluttered helplessly while it was on the floor as it cried out, trying its best to move before it gave in and fainted. "Yes!" Red cheered as he pumped a fist in the air.

"Hooray!" Ivysaur and I cheered at the same time.

Koga looked stunned for a moment before his expression became one of annoyance. He disappeared and reappeared in front of Red, making the two of us jump in the process. "Losing to a mere child… I don't know if that speaks for your skill or of my complacency. Perhaps it is both. Regardless…" Koga reached into his clothes and pulled out a Soul Badge. "You and your Pokémon have earned this badge!"

Red took the badge and nodded, saying, "Thank you," as he put it away.

"May we both continue to set our sights higher and overcome all future obstacles. Farewell." Then Koga disappeared in a burst of smoke, along with the other ninjas who were watching the battle.

"W-wait a minute! I…need help figuring out how to leave this building…" Red spoke before noticed a sign standing in the place where Koga once stood. "…Thank you for challenging the Fuchsia Gym. If you wish to leave, just go through the backyard and walk around the gym until you reach the front. Signed the ninjas of the Fuchsia Gym." Red stared at the sign for a few seconds before looking down at Ivysaur and me. "Can you believe this? We could've just walked around and saved ourselves any trouble. Unless that way's booby-trapped, too…" He returned Ivysaur into his ball before staring at me. "You… _really_ need a bath."

"I'm not even in a position to argue," I spoke flatly. I stood up and raised my arms up into the air. "Just put me in the ball. It's not like I'm up to walking after what I've been through." We all probably wouldn't be able to get rid of the muck and stench that had built up on us until it was dark out.

 **X-X-X**

The following day, we left Fuchsia City and headed south. According to Red, our next destination was on something called an "island". We would have to travel across the sea before we got there, and I didn't really know what to expect on the journey. But Red said we'd be traveling by boat, which was supposed to be something like a car on water—or so he said, so I was at least a bit excited. The last boat I had seen was the S.S. Anne, and that was _huge_.

Eventually, the solid ground became soft and pale. When we reached the end of the road, it was because of all the water that stretched out before us, filled with rocks and all sorts of humans and Pokémon swimming in it. Red looked around in confusion. "I don't understand… Isn't there a boat? I thought there would be a boat to Cinnabar around here."

Red began turning around and looking all over the beach. I started doing the same, not really sure what we were looking for. He kept muttering things under his breath about the boat. I thought it was strange that it wasn't there, too. I thought that maybe we had missed it and Red was being stubborn about it. I mean, giant ships can't be hidden well…I don't _think_.

"Oh~! A cute little boy!"

"What's the matter, honey? Are you lost?"

Both Red and I turned around to look at a pair of women standing in front of us. They were wearing clothes that reminded me of the trainers in the Cerulean Gym, but these women's clothes were different-looking: one had frills and things while the other was being held together by really thin straps.

"Um…um…" Red seemed speechless as his face turned pink. "Um…! I'm looking for the boat to Cinnabar Island, so please direct me to it!" He spoke quickly as he began to stare at the ground.

"Boat?" The two women asked at the same time. They looked at each other in confusion for a few seconds before they both had looks of realization and went, "Ohhh! The boat!"

"I'm sorry, honey. There's no boat that goes to Cinnabar from here," one of the women said with a pout as she bent over to properly look Red in the eye.

"There _used_ to be a boating service about a year ago, but I think the man who owned it went to a better place," said the other woman.

"Yeah. To Alola. He's not in Kanto anymore."

It took Red a few seconds to respond because he'd gone into a state of shock for a few seconds. "So…if there's no boat to Cinnabar Island, how do people get there from here?"

The two women giggled before one of them said, "Why, they swim there, of course! At least until somebody comes along who's willing to offer boat rides."

"What's wrong, baby? Don't you know how to swim?" Red shook his head no. "Well, do you have any Pokémon that can swim that're big enough to carry you?" Once again, he shook his head no. "Well…I'm sorry, sweetheart, but that's the only way you can get to Cinnabar from Fuchsia."

After giving their sympathies, the two women ran towards the water. Red stood there, frozen in a wide-eyed state of shock for minutes. I tapped his leg to try and get a response. "Red. _Red_. Say something. _Do_ something. This isn't the kind of silence I'm used to from you!" After finally getting sick of the quiet, I gave him a mild enough shock that would get a response from him.

"OW!" Red broke out of his shock to glare down at me.

"Who cares if we can't take a boat or swim there?! We'll just find another way to get to that Cinnabar place, won't we?!" I said as I pointed towards the water.

Red didn't seem to get the gist of what I was saying, because when he stopped glaring, he began to look at me sadly. "Come on, Pikachu. Let's go back to the Pokémon Center…"

"Oh. That wasn't what I was expecting…" I said as I began to follow behind Red. "But at least you've got a plan. You… _do_ have a plan…right?"

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **Muk learns Substitute via TM, but only learns Sludge Bomb from Gen II onward. Weezing learns Toxic via TM. Venomoth learns Double Team via TM. It learns Gust naturally from Gen II onward.**

 **Eevee cannot be caught in the Safari Zone in any of the Pokémon games. Tangela, Cubone and Marowak, however, can be found there in Yellow.**

 **The appearance of the Fuchsia Gym in the games is normally a place with invisible walls. Here, it takes more after the gym's appearance in the anime: an old-fashioned mansion with booby traps. Also, in the Gen I games and their remakes, the trainers don't disguise themselves to look like Koga. This is only done when Janine is the gym leader.**

 **Koga's team is made up of Pokémon he uses in both Red and Blue as well as Yellow: Weezing and Muk (from RB) and Venomoth (from Yellow). In fact, Venomoth was chosen to be Koga's ace because it's level 50 in Yellow, whereas his highest level Pokémon in RB is a level 43 Weezing.**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


	17. Chapter 17 - Sink or Swim

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Only this fic._

 **X-X-X**

" _Ah! So just as I expected! Whatever Team Rocket did to your Pokémon, evolving seems to have allowed them to overcome any negative aspects of their changes that would've normally killed them in the wild. In Charmander's case, his constant shedding was solved as he evolved. In Squirtle's case, evolution allowed his heavy shell to become light enough for him to be able to move like a typical member of his species despite its increased durability. And in Bulbasaur's case, evolution helped his bulb make the necessary changes for it to function properly."_

It was the morning after I'd won the Soul Badge from Koga, and the day when I was supposed to go to Cinnabar Island. But then I learned that there was no way for me to get to Cinnabar from Fuchsia City. I thought there'd be a boat service, but there wasn't. The only way to get across all that water would be to use a Pokémon as a means of travel. So I decided to call up Professor Oak to see if I had any other options. But somehow, the conversation shifted towards the results of my Pokémon's evolutions before I could even ask him.

" _Now I'm actually curious… I wonder what the results of your Pikachu evolving would be. Unlike your other Pokémon, there are no physical mutations about him that aren't caused by the random moves he uses. So long as he doesn't use any of those unusual attacks, he's just a stronger than average Pikachu."_

A frown couldn't help making its way onto my face. "Professor… You're not going to try to do anything to Pikachu once I get back to Pallet Town, are you?"

On the other end of the line, Professor Oak laughed, _"Of course not! Besides, evolving might not do anything for him in the long run. Either that or it could be a change for the worse."_

"Uh-huh. Which is why I don't want to do anything. B-but, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

" _Oh?"_

"You see… I…need help figuring out how to get to Cinnabar Island quickly. Preferably without having to go all the way back to Pallet Town."

On the other end of the line, I heard Professor Oak hum thoughtfully. He was silent for about a minute before saying, _"Well, you can always ride there on your Pokémon. You've got a Seadra with you, after all."_

"Seadra's a little too... _small_ for me to ride, especially all the way to Cinnabar Island. I would need to learn how to swim to cope with it, but I…"

" _Can't. Well, you could evolve your Wartortle into Blastoise! One of those would be big enough to carry a boy your size. I was going to send Wartortle over soon, anyway."_

"I don't know how long it would take for him to evolve. I want to get there as quick as possible."

"… _Well, how about riding on your Snorlax?"_

I arched an eyebrow. "Seriously? That's a cruel joke, Professor Oak."

" _I'm not joking. When push comes to shove, wild Snorlax swim in order to get more food to eat."_

"…Really? I knew Snorlax could learn Surf…but I didn't think they could _actually_ swim… I thought that was just a game mechanic. They don't _look_ like Pokémon that can swim…"

" _Never underestimate the abilities of Pokémon! I'll send Snorlax over to you. You'll be able to teach him how to swim if he doesn't know how to already."_

For the first time since coming back from the beach, I smiled. "Thank you, Professor Oak! I'll check on my PC later!" My smile didn't fade until I hung up the phone and a thought popped up in my mind. I wondered where Blue was right now, if he was getting his seventh badge already, or if he was leaving Cinnabar Island while I was stuck in Fuchsia. But I tried to push the thought out of my head. Thinking about Blue lately only got me upset over how much I was lagging behind him, along with _other_ reasons. I'd preoccupy my time by binging on television, and as soon as I received Snorlax, I would take him down to the beach and test what Professor Oak told me. And Blue's progress would be the last thing on my mind…

 **X-X-X**

 _Chapter 17: Sink or Swim_

A bit later that same day, Professor Oak fulfilled his promise. He transferred Snorlax to my PC along with Wartortle. I headed down to the beach on Route 19, where I introduced the newcomers to Wartortle. Snorlax was less concerned with his other teammates than he was with me: the moment he saw me, he picked me up and started licking me, which got the attention of everyone who was on the beach.

"Snorlax! Stop! Put me down and _stop_!" Snorlax had finally had enough and put me down on the ground. I ignored the laughter I heard around us—including that from Wartortle and Eevee—and began digging through my bag. "I'm glad that you're not mad at me for sending you away, but I need to know if you can swim. Can you swim?"

I looked up at Snorlax to see if he understood what I was saying. He tilted his head to the side and made a noise of confusion. That was when Pikachu spoke up and began pointing to the sea, making swimming gestures. After that, Snorlax smiled and nodded. But then he started pointing as his mouth again, signaling that he wanted to be fed.

"Oh, of course! I expect you to swim pretty far, so it'd be mean of me to make you swim without giving you something to eat first." I took out a bar of chocolate from my bag. "I bought some chocolate while I was waiting. I don't like this stuff, so you can have it all." I unwrapped the chocolate bar and broke off a piece to give him. Just like last time, Snorlax snatched the chocolate from my hand and gave it the same treatment: he sniffed it, licked it, and when he decided that it tasted good, he ate it whole. In response, Snorlax cried out in delight and picked me up to kiss me. "Okay, okay! I get it! You like the chocolate! Now please put me down!" Snorlax put me down again. "Now, show me how you swim and I'll give you the rest of this chocolate bar," I said, waving the chocolate bar enticingly.

Snorlax's response was unexpectedly prompt. He ran out to the edge of the water, kicking up sand in the process, and jumped into the air. He landed in the water with a belly flop, creating a small tidal wave that disturbed the other people and Pokémon swimming in the water, before he began his demonstration of his swimming skills. He did a backstroke, a doggy paddle, and he swam like a fish-like Pokémon, jumping out of the water every couple of seconds. Then Snorlax started doing something that looked like a routine from a water ballet I once saw on TV. If his legs were longer, it would be a near perfect imitation. After it was all done, a couple of people on the beach wound up cheering for him.

"…I'm starting to get the feeling that Snorlax had a trainer before me," I spoke up after spending the last couple of minutes in stunned silence. "Because I don't think it's natural for wild Pokémon to be so…choreographed." My other Pokémon nodded as they made sounds that I could only assume were in agreement. Snorlax came back onto dry land and walked up to me, smiling proudly and holding his paws out. I couldn't help smiling and gave him the rest of the chocolate. "Well, you're certainly skilled," I said as Snorlax began eating the chocolate. "Do you think you'd be able to swim while Pikachu and I ride on you?" Licking his lips, Snorlax nodded before pointing at his mouth again. "Right. I'm glad I bought the _cheap_ chocolate now…" I took another chocolate bar out of my bag and unwrapped it for Snorlax. He ate it whole and sighed in content when he was finished. "Well, _this_ will be interesting…" I mumbled as I picked up Pikachu and began returning everyone but Snorlax into their balls. "I just hope he doesn't fall asleep in the middle of the trip..."

 **X-X-X**

And so, Pikachu and I wound up sitting on Snorlax's belly while he backstroked across the ocean. It naturally drew the surprised gazes of those who were swimming under their own power or using Pokémon that were naturally aquatic. I wound up spraying several bottles of repel on him in order to keep away the wild Pokémon who would attack him. If anything happened to Snorlax, we would literally be sunk. I wound up sending out Wartortle and Seadra so they could get the chance to swim as well—after they were sprayed with repel, of course. To my surprise, Wartortle happily dived into the water, forgetting all about the days when he was so heavy that he would sink to the bottom. Both Wartortle and Seadra spent most of the time circling around Snorlax and never straying far.

Eventually, the beach was no longer visible and there were no sights of other human beings traveling our way. The only activity came from the Pokémon around us—the Magikarp that occasionally splashed water on us, the Tentacool that would only show their bright red crystals while part of their bodies stuck up out of the water's surface, and the occasional Horsea that would duck back underwater and instinctively spray ink to lose sight of us among several others. When I wasn't reapplying repellent on my Pokémon and feeding Snorlax chocolate, I more or less blocked out the experience. I almost dozed off from boredom several times before Pikachu would zap me awake or Seadra would squirt water on me.

It wasn't until I began to hear Pikachu's noises of concern that I snapped back to reality. Without me noticing, the sun was beginning to set. And as pretty as traveling on the ocean during a sunset is, there was still no sign of Cinnabar Island. I honestly couldn't help but panic a bit. I had always tried to make sure that I never spent the night outdoors, where any Pokémon or person with ill intentions or simple Mother Nature could harm me or my Pokémon. But we were out in the middle of the ocean, with any sort of civilization being far away. I wondered if we would honestly have to keep going through the entire night, or maybe even longer. Snorlax probably couldn't last for so long. Neither could I. I'd wind up falling asleep eventually, and likely fall into the ocean.

That was when I saw it. An island in the distance. I thought for sure that it was Cinnabar Island. "Snorlax. Snorlax!" I spoke up, getting Snorlax's attention. I pointed over to the island and shouted, "Over there! That's where we have to go!" That was all Snorlax needed to pick up speed and backstroke towards the island. Seadra and Wartortle outsped him and led the way.

By the time that we reached the rock-filled shallow waters and made it to shore, night had fallen and the sky was dark. The only light came from the moon above. And because of that light, I realized something that I didn't when I was panicking about reaching land by nightfall. This was not Cinnabar Island. Cinnabar Island had a volcano, as well as a bustling city and other signs of civilization. This island had none of those things. In fact, it seemed like a deserted island.

But then I turned around to find Wartortle, Pikachu and Seadra staring at a set of signs. I approached a sign and struggled to read what it said in the moonlight. "Route 20. Cinnabar Island to the west. Fuchsia City to the northeast." I looked at another sign. "Seafoam Islands. Warning: Cold temperatures, strong water currents and wild Pokémon within caves." The last sign had a map more or less detailing our location on the eastern island, how the waters around the island were dangerous and Tentacruel-infested, and that the best hope of getting to the western island on the other side—and in turn Cinnabar—was to go through the islands' caverns.

"Well… This is an okay place to spend the night." I ignored the skeptical looks that my Pokémon were giving me as I began taking my sleeping bag out. "I can't remember if I've ever even used this." I looked at Pikachu, Seadra and Wartortle. "We'll sleep here and travel through the caves tomorrow so we can get to the other island. Hopefully it won't take too much time to find our way through it. And if we're lucky, Cinnabar will be close by." I returned Seadra and Wartortle into their Poké Balls. Snorlax had already fallen asleep by the time I returned him into his own ball. I stared at Pikachu for a few seconds before taking out his ball and offering it to him without a word. He looked upset for a moment and shook his head no. "Then I guess you'll be sleeping with me." Not wanting to sleep inside of the cave and risk getting attacked by something, I laid out the sleeping bag on a spot on the ground that had the least amount of rocks. I didn't even bother to change into my usual pajamas. I just took off my shoes and got into the bag with Pikachu, hugging him close to me. He kept staring at me with a look of concern on his face as I said, "Good night, Pikachu." Then I squeezed my eyes shut and eventually fell asleep from listening to the sound of the waves.

 **X-X-X**

When I woke up the following morning, I found that I had been piled under all of my Pokémon, minus Snorlax. "What are you guys doing? You could've caught your death of cold last night." Or killed under their weight, considering how much Ivysaur and Wartortle weighed in addition to everyone else. Eevee crawled out of the pile to approach my face and whimpered in a way I had grown familiar with. He wanted food. I realized that I hadn't fed my Pokémon last night. After coaxing everyone off of me, I dug out some berries that had been in my bag to feed them with, along with what was left of the sandwich I had been eating yesterday. Aside from the chocolate, there wasn't much food left. "Chocolate… How on earth am I going to feed Snorlax if we don't get to Cinnabar soon enough?"

Pikachu began speaking, pointing at something nearby. I looked in that direction and saw several Slowpokes sitting down at the edge of the island, sticking their tails in the water. But what Pikachu was pointing at was Snorlax, who was lying on his belly between the Slowpokes. He was still for a few seconds before suddenly reaching into the water and pulling out a Shellder that had closed its shell. He started banging the Shellder against a rock in a vain attempt to open it. When that didn't work, he tried to bite Shellder, which worked as well you would think an attempt to bite into shell that's harder than diamond is. Snorlax wound up tossing aside the Shellder, hitting a Slowpoke in the head with it in the process.

"Snorlax! You don't have to catch your own food! I still have chocolate!" I called out as I unwrapped a bar. I only looked away for a moment to take off the foil, and when I looked back, Snorlax was blocking the sun as he stood in front of me. By this point, I was hardly surprised and gave him the chocolate nonchalantly before taking a look at my map. I was certain we'd be able to get to Cinnabar Island that day. The Seafoam Islands looked like they were only a couple of hours away. But since certain parts of the water around it were kind of dangerous and I didn't have more repels, what we had to do was go through the Seafoam Island caverns to reach the island on the other side. With that thought in mind, I packed up my sleeping bag, returned my Pokémon into their balls, and made sure Pikachu was safely perched on my shoulder before heading into the nearby cave.

 **X-X-X**

The sign next to the cave had not been lying. It was cold within the cavern—cold enough that I could see my breath forming in clouds in front of me and that sheets of ice were in various parts of the cave. Most of the Pokémon who lived there were Water types like Shellder, Krabby, and Seel—a species of Pokémon whose bodies were best-suited for cold environments. The only local Pokémon that seemed uncomfortable with the temperature were the Zubat and Golbat, who were too busy shivering to bother swooping down from the ceiling where they all huddled up together for warmth. Even Pikachu shivered occasionally, despite having fur. But something about the cold must have made them lazier, because the only Pokémon who attacked us were the Shellder or Krabby I wound up stepping on by accident.

Navigating the cave was more complicated than I thought. I assumed there was a simple straight tunnel to the other island, but there were various tunnels within the island and branching paths that wound up confusing me. The sheets of ice that covered parts of the floors made things a bit more difficult. I wound up falling over and hitting things several times before I finally got the hang of sliding—and even then it was an awkward slide and I could never stop myself from falling when I lost my balance. Just as I was thinking how lucky I was that no one was around to see me make a fool of myself…

"Hey, kid! Are you okay?"

I heard a voice call out to me from nearby. This was after I had managed to skate across the ice to the other side of the icy floor, but wound up tripping over my feet and landing flat on my face as a result. The childish part of me wanted to stay down on the floor to avoid embarrassment, but logic forced me to stand upright and look at the person in front of me. "I'm fine… Hm?" Of all the people to be standing in front of me, it turned out to be Misty, the gym leader of the Cerulean Gym. The last time I saw her, she had been wearing swimwear that made me look away for the sake of modesty. Right now, she was wearing clothes that made looking at her easier: a windbreaker and a pair of jean shorts. "You're Misty!"

Misty looked surprised for a second before she smiled and nodded. "That's right! It's the lovely Misty of Cerulean City! Are you a fan of mine, little boy?"

I wasn't sure if I felt a bit upset that she didn't recognize me or not. Even if she didn't remember me as a challenger, I had become famous after the whole Team Rocket affair. "I'm not a… I mean, we've met before. I challenged you for the Cascade Badge."

"Did you now?" At that moment, Pikachu came sliding across the ice with more ease than I did and stopped right next to me. Misty stared at Pikachu for a few seconds before suddenly exclaiming! "Oh! It's you! Red Ketchum. The kid with the Pikachu that made bubbles!" Pikachu made a sound of annoyance as Misty continued, "I saw your name on the news a while ago, too. Who'd have thought that someone who beat _my_ gym would become famous? Now, why are you here?"

"I was traveling to Cinnabar Island, but I was forced to stop here."

"Oh, off to challenge Blaine, huh? Just how many badges do you have left to get?"

"Just two."

"Wow, impressive! Most kids your age give up after getting four! You're really something, aren't ya?" Misty said with a smile.

I lowered my head and tried to keep myself from blushing from the compliment, but I failed. I wanted to say that I wasn't anything special, but instead, I wound up asking, "But what are _you_ doing so far from Cerulean City?"

"The Seafoam Islands are where my Pokémon and I train! This is the perfect place to practice our swimming!"

"Swimming…?"

"The currents within these islands can be really strong. My Pokémon and I train by swimming against them." Misty folded her arms across her chest. "It's how I'm able to get between here and Cerulean City within a day. Between my Pokémon's natural speed in the water and their knowing Surf, I don't have to be away from home for long! Knowing Surf really helps to boost a Pokémon's speed in water, y'know!"

"That's impressive." And envious. Snorlax was able to swim, but he couldn't exactly swim in a _fast_ way without risking me falling into the water.

Misty got a look of curiosity in her eyes. "Hey, did your Pokémon actually swim here without knowing Surf?"

"Um…yes. My Snorlax knows how to swim naturally, so…" I only really cared that Snorlax could swim. Playing Pokémon games made me think that Surf was a move used to swim, but I didn't think it was just as helpful in doing so in real life.

The surprised look on Misty's face at the mention of a swimming Snorlax matched those of the people who saw Snorlax swimming on the way here. "A _Snorlax_?!Well, _that's_ impressive! That's really far for someone who's inexperienced at swimming far distances—especially something like a Snorlax!" Maybe, but I feel like Snorlax has had _lots_ of experiences swimming that I'm not aware of. "Say, Snorlax can learn Surf, can't it?" I nodded and Misty began to nod as well. "Okay, that settles it! How about I teach your Snorlax how to use Surf so it'll swim faster?"

It was my turn to be surprised. "You can _teach_ him Surf? I thought you needed a TM or—"

"Do you know how expensive it would be if I had to buy TMs for each Pokémon I had? Besides, I've seen the move so often that _I_ could do it if I were a Pokémon!"

I was silent for a moment, stunned by Misty's kindness. I smiled and nodded, saying, "Then, yes. Please teach my Snorlax Surf." A thought then popped up in my head as I remembered that I had more Pokémon who could benefit from learning Surf. "Actually, would it be too difficult for you to teach three Pokémon? I have two Water type Pokémon as well, so…"

"No problem, no problem!" Misty turned around and gestured for me to follow. "Come on, let me show you where our training will take place!"

 **X-X-X**

Misty wound leading me and Pikachu deeper into the Seafoam Islands— _literally_ deeper. We travelled through a tunnel that went down, possibly far below the surface. By the time we made it to the bottom, I was surprised to find a wide, open area filled with water and chunks of rock and land of varying size. Misty approached the water's edge and turned around to look at me. "Well? Send out your Pokémon!" Snapping out of my awe of our surroundings, I sent out Snorlax, Wartortle and Seadra. Misty inspected all of them, although she stared at Wartortle the longest. "That's…a _weird_ -looking Wartortle you've got there."

Wartortle looked mildly offended by Misty's statement as I lied, "He's a foreign variation of Wartortle."

"Ooh, cool!" Misty stared at my Pokémon for a few more seconds before nodding. "Alright! I think I know the perfect teachers for you guys!" She took out a pair of Poké Balls and sent out a Lapras and a Blastoise. I'd already seen a Lapras once at the Safari Zone, but this was the first time I'd been close to a real, live Blastoise. "Blastoise can move about on land like your Snorlax and Wartortle can. While Lapras moves faster in the water like your Seadra," Misty explained to me before looking back at my Pokémon. "Alright! Today, you guys are going to be learning the move Surf!" The three of them stared at Misty in confusion before giving me the same look. I nodded as Pikachu spoke up, both of us giving the okay for them to learn, and they all looked back at Misty. "First, let's see how it's done!" She looked at her Blastoise. "Okay, Blastoise! Use Surf!" She said as she pointed towards the water. With a nod, her Blastoise turned around before bellowing out and jumping a few inches off of the ground. When it landed, water formed around its feet before lifting the Blastoise a foot up into the air, then rushing forward and growing into a large tidal wave that hit one of the rocks in the water. "See how Blastoise moves his body to get the attack going? Think about how when you move in water, you disturb it. When you jump in, it's possible to make a big wave. So imagine that you're jumping into the ocean or a pool and that you're making a big wave."

Wartortle made a noise of confusion before attempting to do the same. He jumped off of the ground, but no wave was created when he landed. Misty's Blastoise shook its head and began speaking, gesturing with its arms and legs. After a few seconds of instruction, Wartortle nodded and fell silent, grunting in concentration. He shouted as he jumped off of the ground and landed on the floor, creating…a small puddle of water that he only managed to get a splash out of. Wartortle cried out in frustration before Blastoise began comforting him.

Misty looked at Seadra. "While those guys are practicing, let's focus on _you_." She looked back at her Lapras. "Lapras, show _your_ Surf." Just like Blastoise, Lapras cried out, but it didn't make a move. Water simply formed beneath its body before raising the Lapras up off the ground and surging forward as a growing tidal wave. "Did you notice the difference between Lapras and Blastoise's Surf attacks? Unlike Blastoise, Lapras isn't good at moving on land. He's a Pokémon that's used to moving about in the water. So are you, Seadra. When _you_ use Surf, you should imagine that you're swimming in water, or along the rushing waves."

Seadra nodded in understanding and hopped over to Lapras. The two of them talked to each other for a minute before Seadra turned to face the water. He began to lean forward as he closed his eyes in concentration. After a minute of silence, he cried out and water formed beneath before raising him up into the air and crashing down to create a large tidal wave. When the attack hit a mass of land several feet away, Seadra began hopping around with delight.

"Wow! You catch on pretty fast!" Misty giggled as she patted Seadra on the head. He didn't shy away from the touch. In fact, he seemed to try and stand taller so he could further nuzzle his head against the palm of her hand. "You haven't forgotten how it feels to swim in the sea, I see."

An hour passed before Wartortle was able to get the hang of using Surf as well. When he did, he wound up jumping for joy and hugging Misty's Blastoise. Both of my Pokémon approached me proud looks on their faces, happy about their accomplishment. I congratulated and petted them both with as much affection as I could muster.

"Congratulations! Now we'll practice using Surf to improve your swimming speed," Misty said as she began taking off her clothes. I looked away out of embarrassment and heard Pikachu make a noise of confusion before Misty continued, "Now, let's get in the water." I didn't look at the group again until I heard the sound of splashing water. By then, Misty's body was mostly obscured by the water she swam around in. "The currents aren't strong around here, so it should be easy for you guys to get the gist of it here. Now, when you're in the water and you use Surf, your swimming speed is boosted. Lapras, show them how you normally swim." Misty's Lapras began to swim around in circles at a normal pace. "Now, use Surf to kick it up a notch!" With a cry, the Lapras began to swim even faster, creating a wave to water that pushed it along and boosted its speed. Wartortle and Seadra stared in awe. "In this case, you're not making a wave that will push back your opponent, but will push _you_ forward. Now, you guys use Surf and show me what you've got!"

I continued to watch on the sidelines with Pikachu as Seadra and Wartortle swam in the water. Wartortle could get started easily, but had trouble stopping once he had a wave pushing him forward. He would hit rocks and walls face first, but didn't seem to mind the pain. Seadra got the hang of it quicker and he spent most of the time just showing off, swimming forwards, backwards and _upside down_ in circles, like he was trying to imitate what Snorlax had done the other day. It took more than an hour for them to get the hang of moving in the water with Surf.

"That _should_ be all to this lesson, but I feel like I'm forgetting something," Misty said as she began to rub her chin in thought.

"…Snorlax?" I spoke up, realizing that Snorlax was nowhere nearby. "Snorlax! Where are you?" I called out. The water a few feet away from Misty and the rest of the Pokémon was disturbed by violent bubbling before Snorlax's head emerged, a Magikarp flopping violent in his mouth with a terrified expression on its face. "Snorlax! You're supposed to be training, not eating!" Snorlax spat out the Magikarp and grumbled in a pitiful way before pointing at his mouth. "If you're hungry, just _say so_ …" I unwrapped one of the few bars of chocolate I had left and threw it at him. Snorlax caught the chocolate bar in his mouth and gobbled it down in an instant. "Do you even know how to use Surf? Were you even paying attention?" Snorlax smiled and nodded eagerly before disappearing underwater once more. Seconds later, he shot out of the water like a bullet. When he landed cannonball-style, it naturally created an unnaturally large series of tidal waves that swamped Misty and the others as he swam around the area. The tidal wave was so large that it went over the walls of the cove they were swimming in and swamped several of the other pieces of flat land. When the waters became calm again, Snorlax was casually swimming in the water while the others were just resurfacing. "…Was that really Surf or a high dive attack?" I asked.

"You've got some, uh… _interesting_ Pokémon with you," Misty stated as she shook her head.

Before anything more could be said, a loud cawing sound was heard, echoing throughout the cavern. A bright blue figure shot up towards the ceiling seconds afterwards, a bright white trail sparkling behind it for a few seconds before it began to fly around the area. As it flew over us, I could make out its shape more clearly. It was a bird Pokémon—a large blue bird with a downy white chest that made snow with each flap of its wings and every motion of its long, trailing tail. I held my hands out to catch the snow in them, mystified by the sight until the bird cried out and fired a beam of crackling beam of white energy at the water. When the beam hit, all the water in the cove froze up, trapping everyone swimming in it.

"I…I'm stuck! Blastoise, help!" Misty cried out. The ice surrounding her Blastoise began to crack as it visibly struggled. Eventually, it broke free of the ice and climbed out to help its trainer and teammate.

I looked down at Pikachu and pointed up at the bird Pokémon, which seemed to be preparing another attack. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Pikachu charged up and zapped the Pokémon with a bolt of electricity. It seemed to be effective, because the bird Pokémon cried out in pain and put some distance between us by flying farther up. I looked at the rest of my Pokémon and saw that only Snorlax's head hadn't been frozen. "Snorlax, try to break free with Mega Punch!" Snorlax growled and seconds later, he was punching his way out of the ice. "Good! Now help Wartortle and Seadra!" Just after I said that, a large shard of ice landed right next to me, making me jump. I looked up in time to see the bird Pokémon flap its wings and create another shard of ice to fire at me.

"Blastoise, Hydro Pump!" Misty commanded. Blastoise's cannons popped out of its shell and fired a steam of water that hit the shard, knocking it off of its course and making it hit a wall, shattering in the process. "Now, attack that Pokémon with Hydro Pump! You too, Lapras!" Both Lapras and Blastoise fired bursts of water from their mouth and cannons respectively, but the bird easily dodged their attacks and froze them with another beam of cold energy. Once frozen, the bursts of water fell and shattered once they hit the ice. "What the heck _is_ this thing?!"

Without a word, I took out my Pokédex and scanned the bird in question. I almost dropped it when I got the results. " _Articuno_?!" Articuno, a Pokémon so rare that it was legendary. The only thing I had heard about Articuno was an old bedtime story about how when winter came around, they flew around the world to make sure that it snowed. It was a partially true story though—the Pokédex entry on it said that froze moisture in the air as an Articuno flew, making it snow whenever it moved about.

"S- _seriously_?! You mean Articuno _really_ nests here?!" Misty exclaimed. "I thought people were pulling my leg when they said that they saw it here!"

"It certainly explains all the ice in here during the middle of summer…" I muttered to myself. "I guess it doesn't like people intruding on its home." As if in response, the Articuno cried out as its body shined with bright blue sparkles. It flapped its wings once and created a powerful blast of cold wind that chilled me to the bone. When the attack was done, I began rubbing my arms for warmth, but it didn't do me any good. Misty was fortunate, at the very least. Her Lapras managed to slide in front of her to protect her from the icy blast, but part of its body had been encased in ice and stuck to the ice on the frozen water. Wartortle and Seadra seemed to be fine, being Water types, and Snorlax didn't seem the least bit affected by the cold despite being covered in frost. "Seadra, catch it in a Twister!"

Seadra cried out and created a twister around himself just as the Articuno flew above him. The Articuno wound up being captured within it, getting cut up by the wind in the process. But after a few seconds, the legendary bird cried out and the entire twister froze up, becoming a cone of ice that trapped Seadra inside with it. Then, with another flap of its wings, the frozen twister was shattered as a large gust of wind with the force of a hurricane was created. The force was enough to send me flying back and I wound up hitting a person-sized rock so hard, I thought maybe something broke. I slid to the ground, hissing in pain as Pikachu ran up to me, crying out in concern. But I didn't have time to respond and say I was alright. The Articuno took the opportunity to dive towards Seadra, who had been knocked out by its fierce attack, like it was aiming to pierce through him with its beak. But before the Articuno could do so, Wartortle jumped in the way and shielded Seadra. The bird Pokémon's beak bounced off Wartortle's shell, which upset it enough to use its talons to grab onto his shell and carry him up into the air. Wartortle's response was to flail his limbs about and constantly whip the Articuno with his tail. The whipping made the bird Pokémon drop Wartortle. Wartortle withdrew into his shell, preparing for impact, but he was caught by Snorlax before he could hit the floor.

"Lapras, Ice Beam!" Despite being partially frozen, Misty's Lapras cried out and fired a beam of cold energy up at the Articuno. It fought back with its own Ice Beam, and when the attacks collided, the two Ice types seemed to be at a standstill. "Now, Blastoise! Hydro Pump!"

"Thunderbolt," I managed to speak as I pointed at the Articuno.

Pikachu zapped the Articuno with a bolt of electricity, and seconds after that, it was knocked out of the air by a heavy stream of water from Blastoise's cannons. As the Articuno was falling, Wartortle somehow convinced Snorlax to throw him at it. As if he were a Frisbee, Snorlax spun around once and released Wartortle, who was safe inside of his shell. The shell hit the Articuno hard in its chest and the impact sent it flying into a rock wall. The bird Pokémon slid down to the frozen water, where it struggled to stand up. After a few seconds of glaring at all of us, the Articuno cawed and took to the air once more, but instead of continuing to attack us, it flew back the way it came. The Pokémon cheered in victory and I gave a sigh of relief. At least things didn't get _too_ bad.

Misty carefully made her way off of the ice and onto dry land, plopping down to sit and catch her breath. After a few seconds, she looked at me and said, "I'm ready to get out of this place now. You?" I didn't say anything and just nodded in agreement.

 **X-X-X**

Minutes later, after our Pokémon had been healed and Seadra had been revived, Misty led us out of the Seafoam Island caverns to the shores of the western island. It was already afternoon by the time we found our way out.

"Tell you what, Red: I'll carry you and your Pokémon over to Cinnabar Island on my Lapras," Misty said as we approached the island's shore.

"You don't have to do that," I said as I began to take out Snorlax's Poké Ball. "I can just swim there on Snorlax—"

"Don't be so shy! I'm not gonna bite ya! Besides, I'd have to stop by Cinnabar Island anyway to give my Pokémon a checkup. It wouldn't exactly be out of my way," Misty continued to insist. "Besides, I have a proposition to make." I stared in confusion as she cleared her throat and folded her arms behind her back. "I would like to trade Pokémon with you: my Lapras for your Seadra." The offer seemed as if it had come out of thin air, so I couldn't force myself to say anything. Pikachu cried out at such a loud volume that I flinched. He began speaking vehemently as he shook his head, while I was busy mulling over Misty's sudden offer. "It was interesting as a Horsea, and it's even more impressive now that it's a Seadra! I just think it's awesome!"

"I'm not sure about that… I don't think Seadra would like being traded all of a sudden."

"If that's you're worried about, we can just ask them if they're cool with it." Misty took out a Poké Ball and sent out her Lapras. "Hey, Lapras! How would you feel about being traded to Red here?" The reaction she got from that statement was one of wide-eyed panic as Lapras flailed about. "No, no! There's nothing wrong with what you do! It's just that he has this really neat Seadra, and I thought that maybe you would like to be with a trainer who travels to different places!" Misty's Lapras stared at me before slowly moving towards me. It lowered its head so it could stare into my eyes with intensity. After a few seconds, its eyes became watery and it began to cry before nuzzling its face against mine. "He's really emotional, but he's also pretty shy. Lapras can't even warm up to the people at my gym so quickly! But he seems to like _you_ from looks alone."

"I'm…honored?" I spoke, unsure how I should feel about having a Lapras cry over me. "But still, Seadra…"

"Well, just ask your Pokémon! If Seadra says it would rather stay with you, I'll understand."

After coaxing Lapras away from me, I took out Seadra's ball and stared at it before sending him out. "Seadra. Would you mind being traded away to Misty?" I asked as I pointed at Misty. His reaction was similar to Lapras's—only with lots more jumping in a panic. "Calm down! It's not that there's anything wrong with you! It's just something that trainers do—trading Pokémon between each other and whatnot!" Seadra stopped panicking, but he continued to stare at me in confusion. "I won't trade you if you don't want to…but…" I glanced at Misty before continuing, "But Misty's a Water type specialist with a pool that you could swim around in often. You really like swimming, don't you?" Seadra nodded. "The thing is, after we're done at Cinnabar Island, I have no idea how long it will be until you'll be able to swim so freely again. And I know that you're okay with traveling on land, but…would you be happier being like Misty's Pokémon? Please…be honest with me." Seadra made a sad-sounding noise before he gave a nod. Pikachu cut in once more with his shouting—mostly at me. He didn't stop until Seadra spoke up, at which point, he could only pout and start crying. I wound up picking up Pikachu and stroking his head to help calm him down. "It's okay. He'll be okay…" I looked at Misty. "I'm ready to go now."

 **X-X-X**

The journey to Cinnabar Island was a blur due to how quickly Misty's Lapras—soon to be _my_ Lapras—swam through the water and how my mind wandered on the way there. I couldn't help thinking about the experiences I had with Seadra from the moment I caught him as a Horsea. It wasn't as traumatizing as when I had lost Nidorino, but it was still heartbreaking. I could've decided to act like a selfish child and turn Misty down despite knowing what Seadra wanted deep down, but in my own heart, all I wanted was for my Pokémon to be happy—even when it meant giving them something that they couldn't get with me. I had to keep telling myself that once we arrived to the Pokémon Center on Cinnabar Island, had our Pokémon healed, and went to the room where the trading machines were kept.

"This is the first time I've done a trade. In real life, anyway…" I muttered as I rolled Seadra's Poké Ball around in my hands. I stared at the empty ball-shaped slot on my side of the machine before glancing at Misty. She was already putting Lapras's Poké Ball into the slot on her end. After a few seconds of staring at the ball, I placed it into the slot and pressed a button to give the okay on my end. The screen on my end showed off Seadra's basic information, similar to what was shown on the PC, before asking if it was sure I wanted to trade him away. I hesitated for a few seconds before pressing the button to commence the trade. "Goodbye, Seadra…" The ball was sucked up into the tube that hung over it, and after a few seconds of making noises, the machine plopped Lapras's Poké Ball into the empty slot. I took the ball out and stared at it, not sure what I should be feeling at that moment.

"Hey." I looked up at the sound of Misty's voice and found out that she had walked over to my side of the machine while I was thinking. "Take good care of my Lapras, okay?"

"I will. Um…can I…see my Seadra one last time?" I asked. "I mean, he's _yours_ now, but—"

"Of course. I understand." Misty held out Seadra's ball and released him…only it wasn't entirely him. "Huh?!"

"Sea…dra…?" I stared at the Pokémon that was standing beside Misty now. It certainly _looked_ like Seadra, but it was taller than Misty was by about a foot. Branch-like spines came out of its head, a pair of small, thin fins grew out of the side of its head, and a single, large thin fin was on its back. "Is that _really_ you, Seadra?" The creature that was once Seadra hopped and blew out a spray of bubbles from his now thin snout. "I didn't think your kind could evolve... You must be very happy." I couldn't help smiling and attempting to pet him, but with his new height, it was difficult. He wound up bending over so I could touch his head. "Whatever you are now, I'm gonna miss you…friend." And then suddenly, I couldn't help myself. I wound up throwing my arms around my former Seadra and burying my face into his neck as my eyes teared up. "Goodbye…"

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **Lapras, Blastoise, Snorlax, Seadra and Wartortle can all learn Surf via TM/HM. Articuno only learns Peck in Gen I, and from Gen II onward, it's replaced with Gust.**

 **Although not available in Gen I, in RSE, Gen IV, Gen V and XY, both Horsea and Seadra have a 5 percent chance of holding a Dragon Scale in the wild.**

 **Misty doesn't have a Kingdra in the main games, but her anime counterpart has a Horsea and there are several "Misty's Seadra" and "Misty's Horsea" cards in the official TCG.**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


	18. Chapter 18 - Pokemon Mansion Secrets

**Fair warning for the readers: this chapter is a bit of an info dump, kind of.**

 _Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Only this fic._

 **X-X-X**

I couldn't understand humans. I couldn't understand _Red_. I had no idea why he would trade away Seadra for Misty's Lapras. I mean, I know Seadra said all that stuff about remembering how much fun it was to swim in water, and I know that Red actually looked sad to see him go after trading him away, but it felt like _both of them_ disappointed me. I didn't want anyone else to leave our group of friends—even if they wouldn't be going anywhere bad. If it made me a selfish jerk for wanting that, so be it.

"UWAAAAAHHH!" The sound of ugly crying made me snap out of my thoughts and remember that we were at a beach on one side of Cinnabar Island, getting better acquainted with our newest teammate. "He doesn't like meeeee!" Lapras cried before bending his head low enough so he could hide his face behind his fins.

"What? Who doesn't like you?" I asked, resisting the urge to call Lapras a big crybaby out of the fear that that would make him cry _harder_.

" _You_ ," Ivysaur and Wartortle spoke at the same time as they looked at me.

"What did _I_ do to make him think I don't like him?" I said as I stood upright and glared at the two of them.

"For one thing," Ivysaur began, "you've been wearing that same upset expression since yesterday. And it gets worse every time you look at Lapras."

"And for another thing, you haven't had a kind word to say to him since he arrived," Wartortle added as he pointed back at Lapras.

"I haven't said anything mean to him!" I snapped.

"But you haven't said anything _nice_ , either."

"Oh, don't pay them any attention," said Eevee, who was sitting down on a rock. "It's not _your_ fault that the guy's so soft-skinned."

Snorlax, who had been floating on his back in the water while sleeping, managed to yawn, "Don't be mean," as he floated by.

"I'm _not_ being mean! I…" I trailed off as I realized that everyone was now staring at me, except for the sobbing Lapras and the floating Snorlax. I groaned and held my paws over my eyes. "What is with this treatment…?" I approached Lapras and poked his horn. "Hey! Look at me, ya big crybaby." Lapras raised his head to look at me, but he was still crying. "I've got no problems with you, okay? I'm just… I just miss my friend Seadra, okay? You have to miss _your_ old trainer, don't you?"

"Yes, but…I really wanted to be friends with every one of you!" Lapras cried out before he began to bawl again.

"Would you stop crying?! How the heck were you a gym leader's Pokémon if you're so quick to cry?!" I sighed and shook my head. "Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot, but I'm willing to be your friend. Okay?" Before I knew what was going on, Lapras was nuzzling his face up against me and sobbing more. I just allowed myself to get soaked in tears until Lapras had finished crying his heart out, not wanting to get the big lug worked up some more. Once he was done, I got down on all fours and started shaking myself to get rid of the water. "Where the heck is Red?"

As if on cue, I heard Red speak up, "I'm back," from behind me. I turned around to see him carrying a plastic bag. Red reached into the bag and pulled something out. "I managed to get some ice cream. Here you are, Pikachu." He took out something that looked like a little plastic cup with a cover on it. I stared as Red took off the cover and handed it to me, giving me a closer look at the bright pink stuff inside. "It's ice cream. You're supposed to eat it."

"Eat?" I stared at it for a while before giving it a lick. It tasted good, so I started licking it some more. "Hey, this isn't so bad!"

Eevee leapt off of the rock and began to pester me for some as Red began giving Wartortle and Ivysaur ice cream on sticks. "Hey! I want some of that! Gimme, gimme!"

"Just get your own!" I growled before burying my face into my ice cream, trying to ignore the way Eevee was trying to shove me down. With a headbutt, he made me lose my balance and drop my ice cream on the sand. "Ice cream!" I looked over my shoulder to glare at Eevee. "You little _pest_!" I growled as electricity crackled around me. "You'll pay for this!"

"You should learn to share!"

"I'll share _this_ with you!" I zapped Eevee once and he went running over to Red, and I gave chase.

Red sighed and shook his head. "You guys goof around too much. Here you go, Eevee," he said as he put down a cup of brown ice cream for Eevee. Then he handed me an ice cream on a stick that was as colorful as a rainbow. "Here, Pikachu. You can have mine, I guess."

"Aw, thanks Red…" I glared at Eevee. "At least _some_ people know how to behave!" I snapped.

"You should take some lessons from him, Mr. Attitude," the little brown fur ball said before sticking out his tongue.

"Here you go, Lapras. Snorlax." Red said as he held out a pair of ice creams to both Lapras and Snorlax. Lapras made a noise of interest before chomping down on the part of the stick that held the ice cream. "You must really like that, huh?" Red said as he slid the stick out of his mouth. "Do you like it, too, Snorlax?" Snorlax belched, spitting out the stick he'd eaten along with the ice cream. "I'll take that as a yes."

Snorlax sighed in contentment before picking Red up. "You're the best human ever!" He spoke in a sleepy voice before he began to lick our trainer affectionately. "The greatest! The most wonderful!"

"Snorlax, put me down, please!" Red pleaded as he kicked his legs in the air. Snorlax put him back down on the sand before falling over and falling asleep. "At least he didn't ask for _more_ …" He looked back at the rest of us as he wiped himself off. "Alright. Today, we're going to challenge the Cinnabar Gym. The gym leader is someone who uses Fire type Pokémon." He folded his arms across his chest and continued, "I know it's a bit soon to be saying this, but we really need to pick up the pace if want to catch up with Blue— I mean, get into the hall of fame and become champions before the end of the summer. Besides, we defeated a legendary Articuno!"

"With help," I pointed out.

"With help, but still…" Red added as he adjusted his cap. "If we can do that, we can get our seventh badge. And after this, we can go to Pallet Town and have some of Mom's home cooking!"

Snorlax immediately sat up, drooling. "Did someone say _'cooking'_?"

"Oh, brother…" Ivysaur muttered as he turned away from Snorlax.

"You really like food, huh?" Lapras asked.

"Food is love. Food is the best thing in the world. And by extension, people who give food are the best people in the world~!" Snorlax giggled and smiled, probably daydreaming about food. "Let's leave quickly and get some of Mom's home cooking!"

"Now, all I have to do is exchange Ivysaur for Charizard," Red resumed talking about his game plan. "Both Wartortle and Lapras have types that remove the natural resistance Water types have to Fire type attacks. But Charizard has the traits of two types that are resistant to Fire type attacks. So he'll be pretty handy in the battle."

"Great. I can't wait to leave," Ivysaur began as he glared in Snorlax's direction.

"Oh, come on! He said he was sorry," Wartortle said as he patted Ivysaur's flower, only to get whipped across the face by a vine.

"No apologies can make up for the fact that _he tried to eat me_."

"I thought your flower was edible," Snorlax explained.

"You know what else my flower is? _A part of me_. I'd rather be back at the lab with the bug Pokémon than _you_ , you…bottomless pit, you!"

Red looked down at me. "Maybe it's for the best that Ivysaur get some time away from Snorlax…"

" _I'd_ like some time away from Eevee. Can't we send _him_ away instead?" I asked as I gestured towards the little pest.

 **X-X-X**

Later, after Red got a burger for himself to eat, we made our way to the Cinnabar Island Gym on the other side of the island. The gym was a tall building that seemed to be built alongside of a smoking mountain. "That's Mount Cinnabar," Red explained, pointing up at the mountain. "It's a volcano, and the only one in Kanto. It hasn't erupted for centuries, so everyone thinks that it's dormant." He stared at the volcano for a few seconds before asking, "I wonder what makes someone think building a place next to a volcano is a good idea? It's kinda cool, but…it would be scary if it erupted while you're inside." Red shuddered before making his way up to the door, which a little man wearing sunglasses was sitting next to. "Good morning," Red greeted before he made to open the door, only to find that it wouldn't open.

"Nope. Sorry, kid," the little man sitting on the ground said. "The gym's closed."

"Why? The sign said that it's supposed to be open by now."

"It ain't because of the schedule, it's because of Blaine, the gym leader!" The man stood up and adjusted his sunglasses. I found it amazing that he was only a few inches taller than Red. "He went and lost the key to the gym, so he's gone off lookin' for it. I bet I know where he lost them keys, too. That creepy old mansion he likes to muck around in…"

"Okay… Well, do you know when he'll be back?"

The little man arched an eyebrow. "I dunno. Actually, he left hours ago when the sun was rising. He's usually back by now." He looked aside, rubbing his chin in thought. "Gee, I hope something bad didn't happen to him… That mansion's crawling with those creepy wild Pokémon!" The man looked back at Red and smiled. "Hey, kid! You wanna challenge Blaine, don't you?"

Red blinked in surprise. "Um, yes."

"Then you wouldn't mind going to see what the holdup is, would ya? I'd go myself, but I'm just the gym guide! I couldn't battle my way outta a paper bag!"

"But I don't know where he is."

The little man pointed in a direction. "Just go up the road from here until you see a big, busted up house. You can't miss it! It sticks out like a sore thumb around here! Now get going!"

"Geez, so pushy for a guy who's making _us_ do the dirty work…" I muttered to myself as I turned around to follow Red.

 **X-X-X**

 _Chapter 18: The Secrets of the Pokémon Mansion_

We walked down the road that little guy directed us down until we reached the end. At the end of the road stood this big, spooky-looking building. It was tall—not as tall as the Silph building or the gym, but still tall and wide. It had holes in several places, the walls appeared to be crumbling down, and the paint had mostly peeled off of it. It looked like a house I saw on TV once in a scary movie, and comparing it to that made me shudder with fear.

"Maybe we shouldn't go inside. What if there's an ax maniac in there waiting to chop the heads off of innocent boys and Pokémon who do?" I asked as I grabbed onto Red's leg.

"It _is_ a spooky-looking place, isn't it…?" Red gulped and tried to put on a brave face. "B-but if a gym leader can hang out in there, it can't be so bad, right?"

"That doesn't mean anything! It could mean _he's_ the ax maniac!"

"According to the sign, this is the…Pokémon Mansion. No warnings that this place is unsafe." Red looked down at me with a nervous expression. "Pikachu… L-let's go. This…this will be easy."

"Your stuttering doesn't fill me with courage, Red…" I moaned as I followed my trainer through the rusty, broken down steel gates and up to the front doors of the mansion. With a shaky hand, Red grabbed a doorknob and opened the door. It took a few seconds for both of us to get the courage to walk inside.

We entered a big, wide room that looked like one big living room. There were chairs, couches and other pieces of furniture scattered about—or what was left of them. The remaining furniture had either been broken or burnt up. I looked around, wary of what might be wandering around here that the little guy back at the gym thought battling would be necessary. For a moment, I thought I saw something moving around in the shadows where the sunlight shining from the windows couldn't reach, but maybe it was my imagination.

"This place is really big. We'd probably have to look all over in order to find the gym leader," Red said before looking down at me. "We'll have to take a look around. But be careful. We don't know what could be around here…or how decrepit this place is."

We moved further into the building, leaving the living room area to travel through a hallway. The walls were decorated with pictures of Pokémon and people wearing white coats like that Professor Oak guy. A few had fallen off of the wall or been damaged to the point that you couldn't tell if you were looking at a man or a Machoke. Red would occasionally stop to stare at the pictures, as if studying them long and hard.

After a while, we found a room whose door had been busted down, allowing for easy entry. Inside was what may have been a normal-looking room in the past. Today, it had a ceiling with a big hole in it and a wall with another big hole leading into another room. A once comfy-looking bed had been smashed to pieces, leaving behind stuffing, wood, and what seemed to be bloodstains on the ruined mattress and floor. A bookcase had been toppled over and various papers and books were scattered about on the floor. The only thing that hadn't seemed to have been damaged in some way or another was a desk that had a book on it.

"Something bad happened here," Red mumbled.

"No _duh_ ," I said as I ran over to the destroyed bed and jumped onto the mattress. What I smelled on it wasn't the scent of stale blood, but something like fur. Not the sort of scent you would associate with a human.

While I did that, Red checked out the things lying on the floor. "Mmm… All of these books are about subjects in science and Pokémon research." He flipped through a couple of pages in one book for a few seconds before immediately closing it and walking over to the desk. He picked up the small book on the desk and flipped through its pages a few times. "This looks like a journal… But the name on the cover's been destroyed. Let's see…"

Red went on to read the journal out loud. It started off with an entry talking about how a mythical Pokémon was found on an island faraway from Kanto. The one who found that Pokémon caught it and took it back to Kanto to research it. Afterwards, he came to the conclusion that it was a legendary Mew—a Pokémon thought to be the genetic ancestor of most, if not all Pokémon on the planet. The researcher thought it was sure to make him famous, discovering such a Pokémon. But then Mew disappeared, taking its Poké Ball with it. I couldn't understand what happened next very well, but from what Red said, the guy made another Mew to show off to the world what he called "Mew 2". But he wound up letting go of _that_ Mew, too, because he had a feeling that he knew why the first Mew ran away: it wanted to be free, and Mew 2 deserved to be free as well. Of course, he made such a big deal about discovering Mew that when he had no Mew to show, people called him a "disgrace to the scientific community", despite his claims that he had accomplished what he set out to do. On top of that, the people who paid for his research stopped helping him out. The last entry said that he was too ashamed to continue living on Cinnabar Island. He decided to leave his mansion home and the Pokémon he studied there to the aides that worked under him, and he went into hiding somewhere to try and put his past behind him.

"The legendary Mew… To think that someone not only saw it, but made a _clone_ of it! So amazing…!" Red was in awe of what he had read.

"That guy sounds as shady as Team Rocket," I muttered.

"Now that I think about it…Team Rocket's boss was going on about making Mew—or Pokémon close to it. I wonder if maybe whoever owned this mansion before was their inspiration for that."

"Probably…" I heard a rustling sound coming from the hole behind me and whirled around to look inside. I had turned just in time to get a face full of gray gunk with a face on it. "AAAAAHHHH!" I fell off of the mattress and ran over to Red's side. "What the _heck_ is _that_?!"

Red turned around to look at the small gray blob that easily climbed over the bottom of the hole in the wall, slid across the bed, and oozed onto the floor before trying to come closer. "Oh! A Ditto!" Red exclaimed. "They have the ability to turn into anything that's in front of them. Although…" The excitement left his voice as he stared at the Ditto. "It looks strange."

"I know. What's with that weird face and its creepy smile?" I asked as the Ditto kept smiling like a dope.

"Ditto are supposed to be pink, but this one's gray."

"It's the _color_ that upsets you?! Not its _expression_?" I said while gesturing to the Ditto. "And _you_! Stop staring at us and _say something_!"

Instead of giving a response, the Ditto began to glow bright white. Its body began changing shape until it resembled something human. When the light faded away, it had taken on the form of a Machamp—a four-armed Pokémon with bluish gray skin and lots of muscles…except the face was the same one that Ditto started off with. The Ditto-Machamp wordlessly flexed its muscles before jumping forward and swinging its two upper arms to karate chop Red. In reaction, I shocked the strange-looking Pokémon in the hopes of stopping it in its tracks. But that did nothing, so we both would up running out of the way. The Machamp wound up chopping the desk in half.

"Run!" Red shouted as we ran out of the room. As we ran down the hall, I looked behind us to see if the Ditto-Machamp was in pursuit, but saw nothing. But once we entered the living room, it burst out of the wall with its arms spread out and all four hands balled up into fists. "Ivysaur!" Red said as he grabbed a Poké Ball and sent out Ivysaur. "Bind its arms up!"

Ivysaur's vines slid out from beneath his flower and wrapped around all of the Ditto-Machamp's arms as it approached us. In response, it grabbed hold of Ivysaur's vines and used them to start swinging him around in the air.

"Pikachu, Thunder Wave!" I charged up and zapped the Ditto-Machamp with a paralyzing jolt of electricity. In a few seconds, it froze in place, its muscles paralyzed, and Ivysaur dangled in midair.

"Someone wanna help?" Ivysaur asked flatly.

"Ivysaur, Sludge!" The ends of Ivysaur's vines opened up and fired streams of black sludge into the Ditto-Machamp's face. He then had the good sense to unwrap his vines from around the bigger Pokémon's arms and run back over to Red. "Razor Leaf and Swift!" I fired a barrage of stars as Ivysaur fired razor sharp leaves at the Ditto-Machamp. When they made impact, it seemed to be enough to snap the bigger Pokémon out of its paralyzed. The freaky-looking Pokémon dashed forward and kicked me hard enough to send me flying up into the air, right in front of its face, then it delivered an uppercut that sent me flying up and _through_ the ceiling.

"Ugh… _Ow_ …!" I cried as my vision became blurry. That freaky-looking thing really dealt a hard blow back there.

"Aw…! What's this? An innocent little baby with a boo-boo!" I felt someone picking me and raising me into the air. "Don't worry, baby! Mama will take good care of you!" I felt myself being shoved into something warm and soft before losing consciousness.

 **X-X-X**

When I woke up, I noticed I was moving despite not walking under my own power. After shaking my head to clear it up, I looked up to see a Kangaskhan hovering overhead. I looked around and realized that the reason why I was moving was because I was in its pouch. "UWAAAAH!"

The Kangaskhan didn't seem the least bit surprised by my outburst. "Aww, it looks like somebody's woken up from their nappy-wappy!" She spoke in an affectionate way as she rubbed my head. Out of annoyance, I shocked her, which got the bigger Pokémon to draw her hand away and glare at me. "Now, now! If you misbehave, you're not getting a snack, sweetie!"

"I'm not your sweetie! Now lemme out of here, ya big ape!" I had to go and find Red and save him from that crazy Machamp. I couldn't be held up by some

Kangaskhan that was just as crazy! "Save this routine for your baby, okay?!"

"You _are_ my baby! And if you keep up the backtalk, you'll be asking for a spanking!"

"…SAY _WHAT?!"_ I shrieked, holding onto my cheeks. "Lady, do I _look_ like a Kangaskhan in _any_ way?! I'm a Pikachu! And more importantly, _I'm not your baby!_ "

I thought the Kangaskhan was going to get upset and attack me. Instead, she started wailing. "Unbelievable! Where did I go wrong for you to up and disown your own mother like this?!"

I groaned and shut my eyes. "I see logic's not gonna get through to you…" I took a breath and shocked the Kangaskhan with all the power I could. It wasn't exactly enough to knock her out, but it seemed to annoy her enough to grab me and pull me out of her pouch. The Kangaskhan held me in front of her face as she frowned, and I mirrored her expression. "You better let me go now, or I'm gonna do something worse to you."

" _You_ are a very naughty baby! Mama's gonna have to discipline you!" The Kangaskhan threw me down to the floor and raised a fist to smash me with. "This is gonna hurt you more than it hurts _me_!" I jumped back in time to avoid having her punch me and her fist went through the floor, making a decent-sized hole in it. "Hold still!"

"No way!" I shouted as I flicked my tail to fire a barrage of stars into the Kangaskhan's face. I followed up by zapping her with a jolt of electricity. The Kangaskhan jumped forward, aiming to crush me under her foot, but I easily sidestepped her attack and slammed my tail against her ankle twice. The bigger Pokémon roared and unleashed a flurry of punches on me, the final blow knocking me against the wall and effectively knocking the wind out of me.

"Now, don't you have something to say to your mama?" The Kangaskhan asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Yeah… If you had a kid before, I'm guessing that it ran away," I coughed out. I heard a roar and willed my body to jump aside. The Kangaskhan had charged forward, but went crashing through the wall and fell out of the building. When I heard a loud crash, I dared to look out of the hole and down at the ground. Down below, the Kangaskhan twitched a few times before she stopped moving. I gave a sigh of relief and sat down to catch my breath. "That was a close one…"

"Yeah, that was kinda scary for a moment. You should see what she did to the dolls she used to own." At the sound of an unfamiliar voice, I turned my head to see another Pikachu sitting next to me, staring right at me. "Hiya!" He spoke with a smile. My first reflex was to back away from the other Pikachu and assume a fighting position. "Whoa. Take it easy. I don't wanna pick a fight with you," he said as he held up his paws in a defensive manner.

I stayed in a battle ready pose, prepared to attack if necessary. I took in the way the Pikachu sitting in front of me looked. His fur was a paler shade of yellow than mine, and the electric sacs on his cheeks were pink instead of red. The end of his tail was round, like it couldn't decide to be like a female Pikachu's tail or a male's. His back didn't have stripes, but brown spots. And his eyes were a bright red color. They reminded me of Red's eyes, to be honest. A pretty weird-looking Pikachu overall. After a few seconds, I calmed down and stood upright. "Okay… You seem normal. Normal- _ish_ , anyway."

The weird-looking Pikachu smiled. "Thanks! I'm Pika 7! What's _your_ number?"

I blinked and stared in confusion. "My…number?"

"Your number. The number you were given when you were born? Like, _I_ was the seventh Pikachu, so I'm Pika 7. And that down there," he pointed down at the unconscious Kangaskhan outside, "is Kanga 4—the fourth Kangaskhan."

"I don't _have_ a number. I'm just… _Pikachu_. I came here with my trainer—a boy."

Pika 7 tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Trainer…?" He pronounced, confused. "What's a trainer?"

"You know. A trainer's like…your human. The human who takes care of you!" A thought popped up in my head as I remembered what Red read a while ago. "Wasn't there a scientist who took care of you?"

Pika 7's eyes brightened. " _Yeah_! My buddy!" Buddy? "My buddy used to take care of me and all the others! Then he left one day, and Sir and a bunch of other scientists took care of us." Sir? "But then Mew 2 went and smooshed them all, so now we don't have any humans. Except maybe Mr. Shiny Head. He comes around every once in a while to give food to those of us who behave."

I arched an eyebrow. "Um…okay? So did you see _my_ human, or not?"

"Nope. I saw Mr. Shiny Head crawling around a little while ago, looking for something."

"Mr. Shiny Head… Is that the gym leader?" I spoke more to myself than to the strange Pikachu standing in front of me. "Uh… It was great meeting you, but I gotta go. See ya." I turned to leave, ignoring the pain surging through my body as I started moving. Almost immediately, Pika 7 got ahead of me and began walking backwards to keep his eyes on me.

"Why don't we go look for him together? I don't know if you've noticed, but some of the guys around here are pretty weird and just a teensy bit aggressive. And you're not exactly in fighting shape. You could use a friend right now, buddy."

I stopped walked and sighed. "Fine. You can stick around until I find Red again."

"Yay!" Pika 7 patted me on the head as he smiled. "Don't worry, friend! I'll protect you!" So long as I don't have to be protected _from_ you, I'll be fine…

 **X-X-X**

As we went around the house, Pika 7 filled me in on stories about his human, whom he only knew by "Buddy". According to him, his scientist buddy worked under the original owner of the mansion, whom he only knew as "Dr. Fuji". Dr. Fuji had several other scientists who worked under him, like how Professor Oak had scientists who did work for him. After Dr. Fuji was disgraced and driven into hiding, all of those scientists wanted to cut off their connections to Fuji to avoid being associated with him—all but Buddy, at least, who wanted to restore Fuji's name by continuing his work. Like Dr. Fuji before him, Buddy wanted to make a clone of Mew—and he wanted to create it using his research.

Unfortunately, he had less to work with than Fuji. Buddy was forced to find a way to compensate for the lack of Mew's DNA—which I learned was a fancy way of saying "the stuff that separates a Magikarp from a Pidgey and a Geodude". His way of compensating involved using Ditto genes. Apparently, Ditto are more than just creepy-looking Pokémon whose only trick is transforming into other things and people. Something about their genes helped in cloning Pokémon. It was how fossilized Pokémon were "resurrected"—not so much brought to life, as shown on TV movies, but copied by Ditto genes and adapted to. In fact, every Pokémon in the mansion was like that—they were created partially from Ditto cells, some more or less than others.

But Buddy's experiments had their flaws: early on, he could only make Ditto that could transform into an imperfect copy of one species of Pokémon—like that Ditto who turned into a weird-looking Machamp downstairs. He eventually got the hang of it and was able to create Pokémon that were clones of different Pokémon, but they were imperfect. Kanga 4, for instance, was a perfect Kangaskhan aside from the fact that she was actually a _he_. But Pika 7 was one of the first clones who, physical appearance aside, was a perfect copy of what he was meant to be—a Pikachu. Actually, he was more than an ordinary Pikachu. He was _smart_. He could understand human writing enough to read the books that were still readable around the mansion and claimed to have been able to say a few words in human speech.

After he made several successful clones—successful in _his_ eyes, anyway—Buddy made a clone of Mew that only slightly differed in terms of appearance to Fuji's clone. Instead of being blue-eyed with pink fur, it was purple-eyed with white fur. But he named it Mew 2 nonetheless. You would think that the story would end there, but it didn't. As it turned out, someone gave Buddy the money to pay for his research and experiments for the hopes of gaining Mew 2 for themselves. But they weren't satisfied with the results. They wanted Mew 2 to be stronger—more powerful than the original Mew and every other Pokémon on the planet. But Buddy refused. It would mean doing bad things to Mew 2. So that person started to harass Buddy and his family—his wife and his son. Buddy decided to leave the island, and he wanted to take the Pokémon in the mansion along with him and his family. Pika 7 said the last thing he remembered was being coaxed into getting inside of a ball. When he came out of the ball, he was in a cage and being prodded by unfamiliar scientists. Thus marked the end of the era of Buddy. The Pokémon never saw him again and their lives became miserable.

Several years later, another scientist arrived that the humans only called "Sir", so the Pokémon only knew him as "Sir". The only clone that Sir cared about was Mew 2. He and the other scientists experimented on Mew 2, and slowly, his appearance and behavior changed. Eventually, Mew 2 went berserk. He wrecked the mansion, attacking both the humans and the Pokémon. Then, after killing a bunch of them, he just left.

"This is all really… _enlightening_ , but I need to find my trainer. Where the heck are we?" I asked once the storytelling was done with.

"We're up on the third floor," Pika 7 states.

"But last I saw him, he was on the _first_ floor."

"Humans have legs. They can move around. And you know how many holes there are around here." I know the number of times I almost fell through the floor while he was talking my ears off. "Anyway, the house isn't _that_ big. This is the highest up you can go. We'll be able to find your human buddy easy-peasy," Pika 7 insisted as we entered a room full of tall bookshelves. Several of them had been smashed to pieces, while others had fallen over. Like several other rooms, a bunch of papers and books had fallen to the floor at some point, and they looked like they had seen better days. "This is the library. There's lots of books about stuff around here to read, though a lot of them are a bit damaged…"

"' _A bit'_ doesn't begin to describe these things," I said as we walked past the very tall piles of books.

"HALT, INTERLOPERS!" A voice bellowed from above. "Who dares to intrude upon our kingdom?!"

I tensed up and began to prepare for a fight while Pika 7 sighed and looked up at one of the piles. "Hello, Dodu 3." I looked up as well and saw who he was looking at. It was another Ditto, but a brown one that was wearing a frown instead of a smile, sitting on top of a pile of books. Pika 7 leaned over to whisper to me, "Dodu 3 has Doduo genes, and that means he thinks he's two Pokémon in one. He's got a bad habit of talking in the third person."

"Seriously? That's the only thing you can find wrong with him?" I asked.

"Say, Dodu 3! We're looking for a human! Have you seen one?"

"We have not seen Mr. Shiny today, but we have heard tell from Gloom 6 that he is lurking around in the basement in search of something," Dodu 3 spoke.

"No, not Mr. Shiny Head! A smaller human!"

"Smaller human…" Suddenly, Dodu 3 looked as if he got a bright idea. "Yes! We believe we saw a smaller human being carried away by Tenta 2."

Pika 7 gasped in horror and I flinched in response. "What? Who's Tenta 2? Is he really bad?"

"Only if you think being sadistic is a good trait to have."

That was all I needed to hear to start worrying. " _You_!" I pointed up at the Ditto. "Which way did that Tenta guy go?!"

"Who do you think you are, speaking to us like—?!" I zapped the Ditto and made it fall off of the book pile from fright. It landed on the floor with a splat, but easily got back up. "He went right, down the hall, possibly to the bathroom. Please don't hurt us anymore," Dodu 3 spoke quickly before sliding behind the pile of books for safety.

"Thanks." I immediately ran out of the room, down the hall where half of the wall had been knocked destroyed. I didn't stop until I went through an open door at the end of the hallway. I gasped and froze in place at what I saw in there.

Tenta 2 was a Tentacruel, or _supposed_ to be one. The only time I saw a Tentacruel was at the Fuchsia Gym, used by one of the trainers there, but it still left an impression on me. Its body was like a big, blue head decorated in red, gem-like organs and supported by a bunch of tentacles. Tenta 2, however, had a Ditto's dopey-looking face where there should have been a pair of evil-looking eyes. It was holding Red up in the air with two of its long tentacles. Who knew a change of face would make an intimidating Pokémon almost too goofy-looking to take seriously? "And _who_ are you?" It asked in a squeaky voice that made it seem even more ridiculous.

"The Pikachu who'll whup your butt if you don't let go of my trainer!" I said as I pointed at the Ditto-Tentacruel.

"Let go? No, no, no. This is my _prey_. See? It's in the book." Using one of its many tentacles, Tenta 2 showed off an open book. "Tentacruel use their 80 tentacles to poison and capture prey to eat. I already poisoned it. I captured it. Now I'm going to _eat_ it. Just like a proper Tentacruel would do."

"But you don't _have_ any poison!" Pika 7 pointed out. "You don't even have 80 tentacles!"

"I-it's about quality, not quantity!" Tenta 2 insisted as its cheeks puffed out from annoyance. It looked away from us and look back at Red. "Whatever! I don't need poison or more tentacles to _eat this guy_!"

Pika 7 reacted by zapping Tenta 2 with electricity. I whacked the other Pikachu upside the head, shouting, "Why did you _do_ that?! Red's a human being, not a Pokémon! That might have _killed_ him!" I looked back at the Tentacruel clone and saw that it had dropped Red while flinching under the paralyzing effect of Pika 7's attack. "…Thunder Wave?" Well, at least the worst thing that could have happened to Red was getting paralyzed.

"How dare you interrupt my mealtime?! You…PESTS!" Tenta 2 bellowed as its gems glowed bright red and it made an ear-piercing screeching sound that force me and Pika 7 to cover our ears. While we were distracted, it fired a Hydro Pump attack at us in the form of a large bullet of water spat out of its mouth. The attack didn't hit me, but it hit Pika 7 and sent him flying back into a wall. Tenta 2 fired another Hydro Pump, but I jumped over the water bullet and flipped in midair to launch a Swift attack. A barrage of stars hit the Tentacruel square in the head just before I landed on top of it. "Get off of me, you yellow Rattatta!" Tenta 2 shrieked as it began using some of its tentacles to try and pry me off. When that didn't work, it began using its tentacles to lash as me.

"Take…THIS!" I screamed as I unleashed a large amount of electricity—so much that stray bolts went flying around the room, hitting the walls and ceiling as I shocked the Ditto-Tentacruel. After a few seconds of being shocked, Tenta 2 glowed bright white and shrank down in size. When the light faded, I was lying down on top of a Ditto the same shade of blue as a Tentacruel, seemingly crushing it under my body. After getting over the shock of this sudden change, I said, "Let _that_ be a lesson for you!"

"Aww, nuts! _This_ is what I get for following my instincts?!" The Ditto that was Tenta 2 managed to squeeze out from under me and quickly slid out of the room.

I approached Pika 7, who was lying down in a puddle of water. "You okay?" I asked, lightly tapping the clone with my tail.

Pika 7 blinked his eyes open and began shaking the water off, getting me wet in the process. "I'm fine. Just a bit wet…"

I remembered Red and scampered over to him. He was still unconscious, but I wasn't sure if he'd been seriously hurt. After a few seconds of considering methods, I bent down to bite into his arm. "OW!" Red immediately sat upright and grabbed his injured arm. He looked down at me and frowned. "Pikachu, why did you do that?!"

"Would you have preferred it if I shocked you?" I asked as Pika 7 came by my side. "At least you're alive."

"Well, I'm just glad you're okay. You won't believe all the weird Pokémon I ran into looking for you."

"I can believe."

Red petted me on the head before he looked at Pika 7 and smiled. "At least _you_ found one that doesn't seem hostile."

Pika 7 smiled back and chose that moment to finally open his mouth. "Good morning!"

Red stared in confusion. "…Did that Pikachu just say _'good morning'_?" He asked himself.

I mirrored his look of confusion. " _Did_ he?"

"Yes, I did! Good morning, buddy!" Pika 7 jumped onto Red's lap and stared up at him with bright eyes. "You look like my buddy, but smaller! I'll call you _Little Buddy_!"

"His name is Red. Call him Red," I spoke flatly.

Red looked as if he had easily accepted hearing a Pikachu speaking like a human. "A Pikachu that says _'good morning'_ … Well, at least it's not attacking me. Sure is friendly, though…if a little strange-looking." He looked back at me as he continued, "Anyway, I couldn't find the gym leader, but I think I found his key," Red said as he reached into a pocket of his jeans and took out a small key to show me. "I don't know where Blaine could be, though. I've searched pretty much every room up to this point. I don't suppose _you_ ' _ve_ seen him, Pikachu?"

"Who are we talking about?" Pika 7 asked me.

"We're talking about a guy named Blaine. I don't suppose that he's your Mr. Shiny Head, is he?" I asked.

"Well, I dunno. We could go and find him to see if he is. He's in the lab in the basement." I couldn't resist frowning at the mention of having to go into another lab.

 **X-X-X**

Just like Pika 7 said, beneath the first floor had been a large, underground laboratory. It was probably one of the more gruesome areas in the mansion. There were dull red stains along the floors and wall in several places, and outlines that suggested many poor, unfortunate humans and Pokémon didn't make it. I don't know how long ago the incident with Mew 2 took place, but the scent of death still lingered faintly in the stale air somehow. Or maybe that was just my imagination getting the best of me again. This place was so creepy that the atmosphere really did a number on me.

Despite how disturbing the place looked, it didn't stop Red from occasionally stopping to pick up pieces of paper or folders, read them, and stuff them into his bag. The only times that he hesitated were when there were papers stained with something that was better left unidentified. He didn't say _why_ he did it. I guess Red was just interested in whatever went on in this place years ago.

After wandering around the lab for minutes, we came across a Pokémon holding up a large machine while a human crawled about on the floor beneath the machine. The Pokémon had a bright red and yellow color, with a flame burning at the end of its tail like Charizard's and a mouth that resembled a bird Pokémon's beak. The human wore a lab coat and little round shades, and he had a bald head.

"That's a Magmar," Red pointed out. "It's a Fire type Pokémon. The Cinnabar Gym's leader is supposed to be a specialist of Fire type Pokémon. Maybe that's Blaine."

"Just pray he's not another Ditto," I said as we approached the man and his Pokémon.

The Magmar glanced over his shoulder at us before looking back down at the bald man. "Hey. We've got company."

"What is it, Magmar? I'm busy searching under here!" The man said as he continued looking around. "Bah, there's nothing here…!" He stood up and began dusting himself off, saying, "You can just put that down." The Magmar let go of the machine, making it fall with a clatter. "I didn't say to _drop it_! It doesn't matter if nobody's using it! It's still high-tech machinery!"

"Whatever, man. We've got company," the Magmar said as he pointed a claw at us.

The bald man turned around to look at us and jumped. "Ah! What on earth is a _child_ doing here?! Don't you know this is a dangerous place?!" He shouted as he approached Red.

"Are you Blaine, the leader of the Cinnabar Gym?" Red seemed to catch him off guard with that question, but he still nodded. "I was sent here to help you find the keys to your gym."

"For the love of—! That man! He couldn't just send one of the trainers at the gym to help out. He had to send a _child_!" Blaine made a shooing gesture with his hand, saying, "That's very kind of you to brave through such a dangerous place as this, but you don't have to help me out. I'm more than capable of finding the key on my own."

"Says the man who can't remember where he puts the TV remote at home," Magmar added.

Red took out the key he found earlier and held it out to the bald-headed man. "This is your key, though, right?"

Once again, Blaine looked shocked. His Magmar just chuckled as he took the key from Red. "Yes. Well. Thank you."

"I actually came here to challenge you for my seventh gym badge."

" _Seventh_?! That's quite impressive for one so… _small_." Blaine began stroking his mustache as he stared at Red. "Interesting. Maybe you could actually be an interesting challenger." He began to smirk. "It's going to take me a while to get the gym ready for challengers. How about you come around later today?"

"Okay. Actually, I was hoping to ask you something. There's a lot of papers and stuff in here that I'm interested in. Would it be okay if I take them?"

Blaine arched an eyebrow. "You realize it's mostly scientific research that's here, don't you? What kind of kid's interested in that sort of thing?"

"It's just that I was given a Pokédex from Professor Oak in Pallet Town and I thought he'd like to have this kind of information."

I'm not sure how they did so in the middle of a dark room, but Blaine's shades glinted at the mention of Professor Oak. "Do you mean Professor Samuel Oak?" Red just nodded. "And _you_ have an honest to goodness Pokédex?" Red gave another nod. The gym leader rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Tell you what: lemme have a look at your Pokédex for a second and I'll let you take all the documents you want."

"Really? That's it? No problems with it?" Red seemed really enthusiastic about being able to take a bunch of papers. His interest in Pokémon, I can understand. But papers?

"If this place were still functioning and the owners actually cared about the stuff in here, I'd put my foot down. But it's been abandoned. The only ones living here are Pokémon, and _they_ sure as heck don't care about a bunch of papers. So go ahead."

"Thank you very much, sir!" And so, Red handed his Pokédex over to Blaine, promising to meet him at the entrance of the mansion to reclaim it. Then he headed out in search of more papers.

"Little Buddy sure is weird. Just like Buddy used to be," Pika 7 spoke as he followed behind Red alongside of me.

"His name is _Red_ ," I repeated in an exasperated tone. "And yeah, he _is_ weird. But you get used to it…even as more weird things are revealed about him as time goes on."

"So stuff like this happens often, huh?"

"Too often…"

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **In the Gen 1 games and their remakes, Mew is said to have been found in the jungles of South America in Guyana. In Emerald, it's assumed that that the jungle is actually Faraway Island, where Mew can actually be found.**

 **The actual Pokémon Mansion journals state that Mewtwo was born, not made, and that Mewtwo was handled by the same researcher or researchers who found Mew.**

 **Some fans theorize that Ditto are clones of Mew, or are related to Mew in some way because of their shared ability to transform.**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


	19. Chapter 19 - The Hotheaded Quiz Master!

**This story was forced to take a bit of a break because of the evil that is research papers, but now we're back on schedule! …Hopefully. But to make up for my disappearance, here's a very chunky chapter.**

 _Disclaimer : Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Only this fic._

 _Summary : Red challenges the Cinnabar Gym, where knowledge is as necessary to get through as battling skill! Can Red get through the gym on his wits and stand the heat against Blaine?_

 **X-X-X**

 _Entry X_ : _Tomorrow, I begin my attempts to recreate Dr. Fuji's cloning of Mew. Although the thought had been in my mind since the doctor left Cinnabar Island, the cost of the experimentation had been high. And since I found myself the only one of the doctor's aides who cares enough to keep tending to his former home and the Pokémon that live there, and also with a wife and child on the way, my financial needs forced me to put the idea on the backburner. But when I was approached by an assistant of some generous, if anonymous sponsor who wished to make my idea a reality, I leapt at the chance. My wife thinks it's dangerous, accepting money from a stranger who doesn't even give their name. I think it's just some eccentric billionaires who wants to save face by not associating themselves with a thing related to the disgraced Dr. Fuji. She didn't spend years studying under that man, so I doubt she knows how badly he deserves to have a clean name._

 _Entry X:_ _Although they're lab experiments, I try to grant the test clones I'm creating the sort of freedom that Dr. Fuji had given to the Pokémon that he tended to in this mansion. Despite their physical deformities and quirks, most of them get along well. Of course, there have been those who were just too aggressive to keep around other Pokémon or people, or who were born in such a state that continuing to live would only bring them pain and suffering. It hurt to have to put them down for the good of themselves or others. Dr. Fuji always said that no matter how gloomy I looked, I was a softhearted man. He thought that sort of heart is what would make me a good scientist. Hana said it was what made me a good person deep down. I think I'd rather be swimming in a house full of mentally imperfect clones than have to put another one of them down._

 _Entry XX:_ _I have succeeded in creating some proper clones this time. Unlike the last batch, these seem to show no signs of mental retardation or sterility. Their appearances, however, are nothing like the Pokémon they obviously are. That's most likely my fault. If I intend to create as perfect a clone of Mew as I could with what little of its genetic material that I have, I had to substitute. Dr. Fuji did so with the use of Ditto genes, which he discovered could be used to clone other Pokémon. However, that cloning process requires more of Mew's genetic material than I have. And there are only so many Ditto that I can get my hands on. I had to make substitutions so that the result wasn't merely a Ditto who could only turn into Mew, but an actual Mew. But looks aside, they're perfect in every way. They learn quickly, too. I caught Macho 8 operating a microwave oven and Pika 7 using the remote to watch TV in one of the upstairs bedrooms. When Hana came to see me, she said she saw Bee 5 using her stingers to write the alphabet on the ceiling and swore she heard Pika 7 greeting her "good morning". I didn't believe her until I woke up and found Pika 7 slurring a "good morning". Perhaps I should have stuck to using just genes from Ditto and other Pokémon._

 _Entry XX:_ _I think I'll be sleeping at the mansion for a while. Hana and I had an argument. She was going on about the baby and our future as a family, but I was only concerned with finishing my experiment. I'm so close now. Soon, Mew 2 will join the ranks of the somewhat perfect clones I've created. We started yelling at some point and I stormed out. Now I'm starting to regret it. I probably shouldn't have missed so many of those appointments to check up on the baby. She won't even tell me if it's a boy or a girl. Heaven forbid, what if it's a them? Twins? Triplets? Quadruplets? Now I'm going to be paranoid until Hana calms down and tells me._

 _Entry XX:_ _It's a boy. It took lots of begging and pleading over the phone to get Hana to forgive me, and she showed her forgiveness by telling me we would be having a single boy. Now it's all a matter of naming him and getting the house ready for his arrival. Perhaps I should name the clones as well. Once Mew 2 has been created, calling the clones by number would be inhumane, especially when they all treat me so affectionately. But I was never good at coming up with names—not even for my own Pokémon. I don't even know what to call my own son._

 _Entry XX:_ _About the naming situation: My son's name will be Red. It was Hana's suggestion, of course. She says she hopes that he'll be born with my eyes at the very least. If not, we can say he was named because we wanted him to be like the color red—warm, passionate, and fiery. I asked her to help me name all of the Pokémon at the mansion and she looked at me as if I were crazy. But I want those Pokémon to be part of our family. I think I'll decide Mew 2's name after it's fully formed. Maybe one day, Red will be able to play with Mew 2, whatever its name is._

 _Entry XX:_ _Tonight, Mew 2 opened his eyes and officially entered the land of the living. Finally, the fruit of my labor over these arduous months had been born. I would have spent the entire evening at the mansion celebrating my success if it weren't for the fact that Hana went into labor at that same time. And suddenly, Mew 2 meant nothing next to seeing my wife and our newborn son. I missed the birth. I beat myself up over it, expecting Hana to chew me out again. Who misses their own child's birth in favor of a Pokémon's? But all she did was go on about how precious and beautiful Red was. He has my eyes. Mew 2 can wait until tomorrow, I think._

 _Entry XXX:_ _My so-called sponsor is pleased with the results of my experiment, but he doesn't want me to disclose Mew 2's existence to the world. Instead, he wants me to make improvements to Mew 2. What he wants isn't a Pokémon, but a fighting machine with access to Mew's power. As far as he was concerned, his generous donations meant he owned Mew 2 and could do whatever he wanted to him, and the same went for me. I refused to do this, naturally. He may be a clone, but Mew 2 is a living creature. He doesn't deserve to be turned into a weapon. I'd sooner die then let them do that to him._

 _Entry XXX:_ _My house is gone. The house I scrimped and saved alongside of Hana for, burned down while I was working at the mansion. Luckily, Hana and Red were out of the house when it happened. I'm horrified whenever I think what could've happened if they had been at home. Right now, we're all staying at the mansion, but I'm starting to get nervous and anxious. It could be my mystery sponsor, living up to the threats he had sent me. I can take threatening me, but not my family._

 _Entry XXX:_ _We're moving off of Cinnabar Island. Hana's already gone on ahead with Red to Pallet Town. They left on a ferry early this morning. We'll meet up in Pallet this evening, as soon as I've seen to the Pokémon at the mansion. I have no idea where we're going to settle, but anywhere is better than Cinnabar right now. It'll be a struggle to get Mew 2 into a Poké Ball. He really hates them. But he can't exactly wander around where anyone can see him—especially those associated with that man. Professor Oak lives in Pallet. He's a friend of Dr. Fuji's. He stuck up for the doctor's decision. I could probably trust him to give sanctuary to Mew 2 and the other Pokémon._

 **X-X-X**

After getting back to the Pokémon Center, I spent the rest of the day poring over the documents I had salvaged from the Pokémon Mansion. When I had differentiated the files by Dr. Fuji, Dr. Ketchum and Dr. Oak from each other, I started rereading the same diary over and over again. I have no idea why I did. Maybe I was trying to learn as much about that man as I could from the way he wrote, the entries he had jotted down, and the feelings he expressed. I wanted to put a face to him. I wanted to say he was my father, but I couldn't. It was like there was a stubborn door that refused to open to the concept.

I didn't know much about my dad. Mom didn't talk about him. I didn't pester her about him often. When I was little, I asked her why I didn't have a dad like the other kids. After bawling her eyes out, she only said that he was in a better place. When I was older and at a point in school where we were studying genetics, I asked her who I inherited my looks from. My face, my hair, my eyes—they weren't traits that I shared in common with her. She said I looked exactly like my dad. When I asked for pictures, she said she didn't have any left. Now I how they were destroyed: in a fire, in our old house. Now I see why bringing up dad made her cry.

I wondered if he died before he could leave Cinnabar Island. Dr. Oak's unsent letters suggest that someone had to be killed in order to prevent news of Mew 2 and their employer's actions from getting out. Was that _him_? Was that all his employers thought of him: not a human life they killed to protect their twisted interests, but an example to be made of?

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I noticed Pikachu had jumped onto the bed and was now standing on the papers I'd been reading. I became aware of the rest of my Pokémon staring at me with concerned expressions. "I'm okay. I'm okay," I repeated before rubbing my eyes. "I'm just tired. My eyes are strained." I looked out of the window and noticed that the sky was changing colors. It was officially sunset. "It's getting late! I didn't notice how much time passed by. We have to get to the gym before it closes for the day." So I began to prepare to head out to the gym, making sure to handle the papers at delicately as possible as I stuffed them all into my bag.

 **X-X-X**

 _~Chapter 19: The Hotheaded Quiz Master!~_

The sight of the volcano, Mount Cinnabar, chuffing out smoke as the sun began to set was something picturesque. But I didn't stop to admire the beauty of it. I just headed straight into the gym, where I was caught by surprise after being hit by a blast of cold air. It took a while for me to register the fact that the interior of a gym that specialized in _Fire type_ Pokémon had _air conditioning._

"Hey! Were ya raised in a barn or somethin'?! Shut the door!" The short man I had met earlier that day rushed over to the door and shove me aside in order to close it. "You're gonna let all the cool air out like that…!" He must have caught me staring at him, because he said, "Don't look at me like that! This is a gym for people who like training Fire type Pokémon, while sitting next to a volcano, and it's summertime on top of that! I need all the air conditioning I can to get through these days!" He stared at me for a few seconds before remembering who I was. "Oh, it's you! That kid who helped out Blaine! I have to thank ya! Without you, I wouldn't be here in my beloved AC."

"Um, it was my pleasure to help."

"That's enough pleasantries, though. I gotta tell you how this gym's challenges go." The man pointed over to a door on the other side of the room. "Once you go through there, you'll have to answer a series of questions."

" _Questions_?"

"Yeah, I think Blaine secretly wanted to be a game show host at some point in his life, because he comes up with all those questions himself. Anyway, if you fail to answer a question, you'll be forced to have a Pokémon battle. The only way to get to Blaine is by either answering all of the questions or battling through all of the trainers here, or answering some questions or battling some trainers. The doors to Blaine ain't gonna open unless you do one of those."

"I see. Thank you very much." By the time I said that, the gym guide was ignoring me and had gone over to a corner of the room to stand beneath an air conditioner. Pikachu stared at him in confusion before I said, "Come on, Pikachu. This is going to be easy," I said as we approached the door. "I've watched plenty of game shows, so I should be able to get through this on wits alone." Pikachu made a sound that sounded like he was skeptical.

When we entered into the next room, the pleasant blast of cold air was replaced by mildly unsettling warmth. Pikachu voiced both of our discomfort with the sudden change in temperature. "What's the matter? Can't stand the heat?" Sitting in the middle of the room was a sweating teenager wearing glasses and holding a small, handheld electric fan. "That makes two of us…!"

I stared in confusion at the moaning teen for a few seconds before speaking up. "Excuse me, but I came to challenge the gym, so…"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," he said as he took out a small note card. "Um… Your first question: The Pokémon known as Rhydon can be affected by exposure to electricity—true or false?"

Pikachu began making enthusiastic noises as he shook his head. I stared at the ground thoughtfully for a few seconds before stating, "True." In response, Pikachu shouted in anger and glared up at me. "Rhydon can't be damaged by Electric type attacks because it's part-Ground type, but there have been cases where their horns act like lightning rods and attract electricity generated in lightning storms. When this happens, they sometimes get a burst of energy and go on a rampage."

The sweaty teen looked shocked. "Wow. That's…right. What a relief!" He said as he dropped his card. "Now I won't have to battle in this unbearable heat!" And like that, the door behind him opened on its own, revealing a flight of stairs. "Head into the next room to continue your challenge."

Pikachu made a noise of confusion as I picked him up and carried him out of the room. "Don't worry. This part of the challenge is going to be a piece of cake for me."

 **X-X-X**

And I had been right. The knowledge I'd gained as a result of my own academic talent, my fortune of knowing a chatty Pokémon researcher, and years of competing with Blue during the game shows that we watched together when we were younger had helped me breeze through the Cinnabar Gym's trainers without having to send out one of my Pokémon. It helped that all of the questions were Pokémon-related, even though they'd probably seem really obscure to someone whose only concern with Pokémon was training them to battle. Questions like: "What Pokémon is known by the scientific name "Oddium Wanderus?" "What is the name of the mushroom that grows on the backs of Paras and Parasect?" "Can perfume be made from the fumes of a Weezing?" "Is Aerodactyl related to Pidgey?" The sort of questions whose answers people usually learn due to their own curiosity rather than something they learn by chance.

After answering several questions and walking up many flights of stairs, we made it to the very top of the building. The first thing I saw was a view of the mouth of the volcano outside, behind a glass window. Then I noticed Blaine standing in front of the window with his back turned to me, seemingly unaware of my presence. Unlike the previous rooms, this one had an official-looking battlefield drawn on the floor. I coughed to make myself known and Blaine whirled around to greet me. "Oh, so it's you! I was wondering when you would get here! Allow me to formally introduce myself. I'm the leader of the Cinnabar Gym, Blaine! My Fire type Pokémon are so hot that they incinerate all challengers!" He said all of that with a smirk on his face. "Now, from what I've heard, you passed through my quiz with flying colors!"

"Yes, sir." While I was being polite about it, Pikachu decided to be smug for me and carried himself proudly.

Blaine huffed and folded his arms across his chest. "How infuriating! A mere boy being able to answer questions that even the people at this very gym can't! _Again_!"

I arched an eyebrow. "Again?" Could he have been talking about Blue?

"Well, whatever. Since you got up here relatively easy, I'll just have to make this battle even more challenging! If you can knock out all six of my Pokémon, I'll give you a Volcano Badge! But if I knock out all of yours, then you lose." I couldn't help stilling at the mention of those conditions. It made me regret changing my mind about sending Ivysaur to the lab and instead choosing to exchange Eevee for Charizard. Ivysaur's type made using him during the battle highly unacceptable. "So, shall we begin? Or have I scared you into changing your mind?"

I shook my head while Pikachu gave him an angry reply. "I accept your conditions."

Blaine's smirk returned to his face. "Ha! No matter what the results are, you're gonna need some Burn Heal after this match! For my first Pokémon, I choose Ninetales!" He took out a Poké Ball and sent out his Ninetales. I don't think I had yet to see one of those in person. It stood in front of Blaine with its glossy yellow fur shining and all nine of its tails moving in rhythm.

This battle was going to be about enduring as much as it was about defeating him. It seemed best to reserve Charizard, Lapras and Wartortle for Blaine's later choices. So instead of starting off with a Pokémon that was particularly good against Fire type attacks or Pokémon, I sent out Snorlax. When he appeared in a flash of light, he was already facing me and pointing at his mouth. "I know. Here you go." I took out a large, packaged, yogurt-covered pretzel and unwrapped it for him. "Sorry. They didn't have any cheap chocolate bars at the mart." Snorlax wasted no time in eating the pretzel in a single bite. As a familiar look of happiness appeared on his face, I quickly raised my hands defensively. "Save the hugs and kisses for later. For now, focus on the gym battle." It looked as if Snorlax hadn't noticed where we were, because he made a noise of confusion before he turned around and began to look at his opponent.

"If feeding time is done with," Blaine began, "Ninetales, bring the heat!" His Ninetales howled and its body began to glow with a golden light. Balls of golden light shot up into the air from the tip of its tail and came together to form a large ball of fire that radiated an intense amount of heat. But it didn't seem to be an actual attack to be worried about. The flaming ball just hovered overhead, looking like a miniature sun.

"Snorlax, use Surf!" At my command, Snorlax hopped up into the air and created a tidal wave of water. The tidal wave raced towards Blaine's Ninetales and hit it at full force, but it didn't seem to do much in the way of damage.

"Light it up with Flamethrower!" The Ninetales opened its mouth and breathed out a steady stream of fire that engulfed Snorlax in flames. Snorlax raised his arms to defend himself, but when the attack was over, he had been badly burned. That would cut down on his attack power quite a bit.

"Snorlax, Surf!"

"Jump over the wave and use Solar Beam, Ninetales!"

Snorlax hopped off of the floor once more and created another tidal wave upon landing. Before the wave could hit the Ninetales, it flipped over the wave. While in midair, a bright white glow radiated from the fox Pokémon with rays of light shining down from the hot orb overhead. Rather than having to wait for a short while, the Ninetales instantly fired a beam of light that hit Snorlax with enough force to knock him down.

"How is that possible?" I whispered to myself as the Ninetales landed. "It normally takes quite a while before a Solar Beam can be fired." I looked up at the fireball hovering in midair. " _That_ has to be at the source of it all…" But it wasn't as if Snorlax had any attacks that would reach it. Except maybe… "Snorlax!" Despite his injuries, Snorlax was able to get back on his feet. "Use Surf and make a tidal wave high enough to put out that fire!"

"N-no! Confuse Ray!"

Blaine's Ninetales was able to attack faster. Its red eyes glowed yellow for a short time before an orb of spiraling yellow light was fired at Snorlax and hit him in the face, stunning him. But it only lasted for a moment. Although he was confused, Snorlax jumped up into the air and landed bottom first. A large burst of water raised him up into the air for a few seconds before moving forward, growing taller in an instant. The wave washed over the floating fireball and seemed to extinguish it before moving towards the Ninetales. It was unable to evade the attack this time, so all it could do was let itself get hit by the monster wave. Blaine wound up getting a bit soaked as well, but he was too busy being shocked to notice.

"No way! I can't believe you found a way to break through our tactic!" Blaine exclaimed as his Ninetales got back onto its feet. Although the attack hadn't dealt a knockout blow, it had done more damage than when the mini sun was in place.

"Now, use Body Slam!" Snorlax made a noise of confusion, as if unsure of what he'd heard.

"It's weakened! Knock it out with Flamethrower!"

To my relief, Snorlax understood my command. He ran forward, enduring the stream of fire that the Ninetales was breathing out before jumping forward with the intent of crushing the opposing Pokémon under his weight. But his attack missed, simply shaking the floor from the impact. The Ninetales had broken off its attack in time to jump back and avoid getting squashed, and looked like it was about to resume the attack as flames built up in its mouth.

"Mega Punch!" While still resting on the floor, Snorlax swung one of his paws forward and punched the fox Pokémon in the face. The force behind the punch, while seemingly lazy, was enough to send the Ninetales flying back into Blaine, knocking him over in the process.

"ARRGH! I think…this is qualified as…a total knockout…!" Blaine coughed out before returning his unconscious Ninetales to its Poké Ball.

"Yes! Way to go, Snorlax!" I cheered him on alongside of Pikachu. Snorlax got off of the floor, sat down and fell back before falling asleep. Our cheering died down and I could hear Pikachu muttering darkly. "Well… It was good while it lasted," I said as I returned Snorlax into his ball.

At the same time, Blaine was dusting himself off and readjusting his shades. "Alright! For my second Pokémon, I choose Flareon!" Taking out another Poké Ball, he sent out a Flareon. The Flareon shook its body, releasing embers from its fur that quickly died out in the process.

I looked down at Pikachu. "Pikachu." With a nod, Pikachu ran out onto the battlefield. "Pikachu, circle it and use Double Team!" Pikachu dashed forward, forming a trail of illusory copies behind him as he ran around the Flareon.

"It's your turn, Flareon! Bring the heat!" I tensed up at that phrase. The last time Blaine said that, his Pokémon created something that seriously helped it out in battle, and Pikachu wasn't fortunate enough to know any Water type attack. But instead of doing the attack I expected, Blaine's Flareon cried out. The fluffy fur covering its body expanded as its skin began glowing in a red hot manner and heatwaves began to radiate from the Pokémon. The heat seemed to have an effect on the illusions surrounding it, causing them to waver. It became obvious which Pikachu was the real one. "Now, grab the real one!" Blaine's Flareon dashed forward and managed to use its teeth to grab hold of Pikachu's tail. Pikachu cried out in pain and steam rose up from his tail. "Now, toss it up into the air and use Flamethrower!"

"Shock it with Thunderbolt!" Pikachu gave the Flareon a powerful shock, but that wasn't enough to make the Fire type release him. With ease, it tossed him up into the air, raised its head and unleashed a stream of fire that engulfed Pikachu easily. With a cry, Pikachu fell to the floor, but he was quickly back on his feet despite the burns that had developed on his body. "Use Thunder Wave!" He zapped the Flareon once with a single jolt of electricity and paralyzed it.

"Attack it with a Headbutt!" Blaine's Flareon lowered its head and prepared to charge at Pikachu, only to freeze in place from paralysis.

"Swift and Quick Attack!" Pikachu flicked his tail towards the Flareon and fired a barrage of stars at it. When the stars hit, he quickly followed up by dashing forward and ramming headfirst into the Flareon, but he cried out in pain when he made impact and quickly stumbled back.

"Try Headbutt again!" Blaine's Flareon didn't get paralyzed this time and succeeded into charging forward, its head hissing and releasing steam upon impact with Pikachu.

It was around that point that I realized what the issue was here. Whatever it had done to itself, Blaine's Flareon ensured that its body was so hot that physical contact with it would be more painful than it ought to be. Both its head and its teeth were probably super-heated, and coming into contact with it added to Pikachu's number of burns. "Pikachu, use Agility and keep your distance!" Pikachu gave a shout before he began to run around the battlefield, making sure that he and the Flareon were far apart.

"That won't help! Flamethrower!" Blaine's Flareon took a deep breath and blew out a stream of fire, but due in part to its paralysis, it couldn't keep up with Pikachu quickly enough to burn him. "Don't stop until you've landed a hit!"

"Keep running and use Thunderbolt!" As he sped around, Pikachu charged up and zapped the Flareon from the other end of the battlefield. The flames it had been breathing out were soon stopped as it became paralyzed once again. It seemed to be on its last legs as well. "Now, finish it off with Swift!" Still not stopping, Pikachu ran around the Flareon and flicked his tail once in its direct, firing stars at it. When the stars hit their target, the Flareon became unsteady, rocking back and forth before collapsing.

"Okay, so your Pokémon are obviously skilled enough to take out two of my Pokémon! But this next one will knock your socks off, kid!" Blaine said as he returned his Flareon into its ball and took out an Ultra Ball. "Get ready, Magmar!" In a flash of light, a Magmar—probably the same one from earlier today—came out. It breathed out a stream of fire from its beak-like mouth as the flame on the end of its tail flared up.

"Pikachu, come back!" I called out. Pikachu back ran over to me and I held out his Poké Ball. "It'll probably hurt less if you go back in." As I expected, Pikachu shook his head. The only time he'd go inside it is when he's unconscious. "Fine, but if I heal you, that means I can't use you in the battle again." Pikachu frowned before he moaned and nodded in defeat. I took the time to tend to his burns with a bottle of Burn Heal before deciding on my next Pokémon. With Snorlax asleep, Ivysaur and Pikachu out of the question, and Wartortle and Lapras reserved for the last of Blaine's Pokémon, the best choice was Charizard. I sent him out and Charizard's response to the Magmar in front of him was to roar, spitting out embers in the process.

Blaine seemed impressed by the sight of Charizard. He adjusted his shades and grinned. "What's _that_ supposed to be? A Charizard? Strange-looking one at that. But it's no match for Magmar! Magmar, Thunder Punch!" Blaine's Magmar ran forward as its hands began to crackle with electricity. When it had closed the distance between itself and Charizard, the Magmar delivered two punches—one to Charizard's stomach and the other in the form of an uppercut. But the only thing that attack did was make him angry. "What?!"

"Charizard, use Dragon Rage!" Charizard opened his mouth and sprayed the Magmar with bright blue flames. "Now, Slash!" He shut his mouth and countered the Magmar's uppercut with an uppercut of his own, utilizing his claws. Unlike Charizard, the Magmar was sent flying back, but it managed to land on its feet.

"Well, now's the time. Bring the heat, Magmar!"

I couldn't help but mutter, "Not again…!" I watched as the Magmar's body began to glow bright red and yellow as the flame on its tail increased in size. Like the Flareon before it, heatwaves began visibly radiating from it. Then, all of a sudden, fire exploded off of the Magmar's body, covering the battlefield in flames, and in the blink of an eye, the Magmar seemed to vanish.

Blaine chuckled and his shades seemed to glint. "Did you know that Magmar are said to have been born from the mouths of volcanoes? Their bodies blend in so well with flames that they seemingly disappear into the fire. How will you handle _this_ hurdle? Magmar, use Mega Punch!" Charizard began to look around cautiously for the Magmar. After a few seconds, it appeared from the fire and landed a punch across Charizard's face that certainly had more of an effect than the Thunder Punch from earlier. The force behind the punch made Charizard stumble over to the side. "Again! Again! Keep it up until it's been knocked out!"

"Try to counter with Slash!" Unfortunately, Charizard wasn't able to keep up with Blaine's Magmar. He cried out in pain twice as a pair of blows were landed on him, one after another. I thought that maybe Charizard could overcome the flames Magmar had made by using his own, but that would harm more than help. I wasn't sure if the flames of his Dragon Rage would be strong enough to engulf the flames either. "Charizard, use Dragon Rage to cover the area around you!" Charizard took a deep breath and began to breathe bright blue flames around himself. Before he could finish making a circle, the sound of Magmar crying out in pain could be heard, and it was visible for a moment before the flames covering the battlefield engulfed the Dragon type flames and Blaine's Magmar disappeared once more.

"So, you wanna fight fire with fire? Magmar, Fire Blast!" A ball of fire formed on the far end of the battlefield and the Magmar became visible, the ball forming within its mouth. It fired the ball at Charizard and the ball exploded, forming into a five-pronged symbol. The attack hit, engulfing Charizard in flames for a few seconds before fading away. It was amazing how, despite the number of blows that had been dealt to him, Charizard was still standing.

"I think I have an idea…" I whispered to myself. "Charizard…try to blow the flames away!" Charizard roared and began to flap his wings. The flapping increased in speed. Then eventually, to my surprise, a twister formed in the middle of the battlefield that gradually grew in size. The flames were blown out by the harsh wind it was generating, and at some point, I noticed Blaine's Magmar had been sucked up into the twister and subjected to the cutting winds inside. The twister faded away once Charizard stopped flapping his wings, the Magmar falling back down to the battlefield in the process. "That was a better result than what I was expecting. Now, get in close and use Slash!" Charizard took flight and sped towards the Magmar as it stood up.

"Seismic Toss!" As Charizard swiped his claws with the intent of cutting the Magmar, it grabbed hold of his arm and began to spin around, dragging Charizard along the floor. Eventually, it let Charizard go and sent him tumbling away, but he quickly flew back up into the air, where he snarled menacingly.

"Keep calm, keep calm…" I chanted quietly to myself, like a prayer for Charizard to not fly into a rage. "Charizard, keep your guard up! Try and use Slash from above!" At my advice, Charizard began to fly around Blaine's Magmar before diving and raising a claw to strike it once more.

"Seismic Toss!" And once again, the Magmar grabbed hold of Charizard's claw.

"Grab it!" And Charizard used his free hand to grab hold of the Magmar's arm, to the other Pokémon's surprise. "Now, try Seismic Toss!" Never mind that he didn't know the move, but if Misty could use her Pokémon to teach mine how to use Surf, I could use Blaine's Pokémon to teach mine something. And so long as Charizard could learn the move, it was okay, I assumed.

Both Magmar and Charizard began to spin around while keeping each other in their grips, the latter still remaining airborne. Eventually, they began to spin so fast that they were just one big red and yellow blur. Soon, that blur was airborne, hovering off of the ground and raising up towards the ceiling until it separated into two blurs, one of them falling to the floor and landing with a loud crash. It turned out to be the Magmar, to my relief.

"WHAAAAT?!" Blaine screamed as Charizard roared, blowing flames up toward the ceiling in victory. "Magmar, no! Get up, Magmar!" Blaine's Magmar attempted to sit up, but it collapsed and gave a weak cry of defeat. "Darn it! Using the force of Magmar's Seismic Toss to help increase the force behind your Charizard's attack… That was clever!" Blaine complemented as he returned his Pokémon to its ball. I didn't dare say that my clever move was a gamble that luckily came through. "Well, you've knocked out half of my Pokémon… Good for you! But I'm _really_ gonna turn up the heat now!" I gulped as Charizard landed on the floor and Blaine took out a Great Ball. "Scorch them, Rapidash!" In a flash of light, a Rapidash appeared, whinnying as it stood on its hind legs before stomping the floor.

"Charizard, are you okay to battle?" I asked. He looked back at me to nod before looking back at Blaine's Rapidash. "Okay… Let's try for a second knockout!"

"Don't think it's going to be easy! Rapidash, use Agility and show how fast you are!" Blaine's Rapidash neighed before it began to run around quickly, the only sign of its presence being the momentary trail of flames that it left behind it. Despite that indication, Charizard seemed to be having a hard time keeping track of the horse Pokémon. "Now, use Skull Bash!" For a second, the Rapidash was visible as it rammed into Charizard at full force, shoving him aside before disappearing once more. The force behind the attack was enough to knock Charizard over. "Ordinarily, it takes a while for a Pokémon to pull off an attack like Skull Bash! But my Rapidash's natural speed with the added boost of its agility lets it attack at a quicker pace!"

I racked my mind as quickly as possible to think of a way for Charizard to attack the Rapidash, or even slow it down. "Charizard, Twister!"

"Stomp it!" Just as Charizard began flapping his wings, he fell to the floor under the weight of Blaine's Rapidash, which seemed to have appeared all of a sudden above him and landed on top of him. It had landed hooves-first as well, so the pain of being stomped on by its hard hooves was amplified by the force of its landing. Although he was still in shape to fight only a short while ago, the Rapidash's attack had been enough to knock him out. "HA! You can be as strong as you'd like! If you can't outspeed my Rapidash, you can't win!"

I quietly returned Charizard to his ball. "Thanks, Charizard." I reached for another of my Poké Balls, unsure if I should grab Wartortle or Lapras. Although Wartortle could defend himself by staying in his shell and could potentially slow the Rapidash down with Bubble Beam, he might not be able to actually land an attack on it. Lapras wasn't very fast or all that mobile, especially compared to a Rapidash, but at the very least, he had some moves that made up for it like… "Oh. That could work." I grabbed Lapras's ball and sent him out into the middle of the battlefield, away from Blaine's Rapidash.

Blaine smirked, his shades glinting once again. "Rapidash, bring the heat!"

"Not again…!" I watched as the Rapidash stomped in place and neighed. The flames that made up its mane and tail flared for a moment before its horn began to glow bright red, steam rising off of it. It reminded me of a piece of red hot fire poker fresh out of the fire. It didn't look as impressive as creating a small sun or making the entire battlefield catch fire, but it was probably just as harmful as that Flareon's body temperature increasing. "Lapras, Sing!" But I wasn't going to let them attack. Far quicker than he could move, Lapras began to cry out in a sorrowful, melodic tone.

"CHARGE!" Blaine roared as he pointed at Lapras. His Rapidash disappeared in the blink of an eye before reappearing just as it rammed its burning horn against Lapras's neck. Lapras cried out in pain, but he soon resumed his singing, albeit a bit more strained than before. The Rapidash ran around and away from Lapras in an attempt to get away, but it began to falter and eventually fell asleep, falling onto the floor. "NO! Rapidash, wake up! _Wake up_!"

As Blaine tried to wake up his Pokémon, Lapras cried out in pain. The Rapidash had left a wound that caused him a burning pain. Lapras was still standing, but I didn't know if he had it in him to withstand another attack like that on top of a burn injury. "Hydro Pump!" I commanded. Lapras opened his mouth and sprayed out a large stream of water that hit the sleeping Rapidash. The force of the attack had been enough to push the Fire type along the floor. The Rapidash struggled to get back up, but when it was unable to do so, all it could do was give a weak whinny before falling over, not unconscious, but incapable of doing much else.

Blaine growled as he returned his Rapidash. "There's a fire burning inside of me as we speak, fueled from a combination of anger and excitement! The more of a corner you back me up into, the greater my flame grows! HA!" He took out a Great Ball and sent out, to my surprise, a Charizard—an ordinary-looking Charizard, which was still pretty intimidating-looking in its own right. The Charizard roared and spread its wings to look intimidating.

"Lapras, are you okay to battle?" I asked. Lapras nodded as he gave a pitiful cry. Although he was still willing to fight, he was in a bit of bad shape. The Rapidash had done a good bit of damage alongside of burning him, so whatever the Charizard had prepared may have been enough to knock him out. It would just take to the air to dodge a Surf attack, or even a Hydro Pump. He could use Sing again, but the Charizard would likely do what the Rapidash did and attack before it could fall asleep— _if_ it could fall asleep. Lapras knew Thunder, but that was an attack that sacrificed accuracy for power.

"If you won't attack first, _we_ will! Charizard, Thunder Punch!" The Charizard took to the air and flew over Lapras. It pulled back one of its arms and electricity began to crackle around its claws.

"Thunder!" As the Charizard dived down at Lapras, his horn crackled with electricity before firing a large bolt of electricity at the approaching Fire type Pokémon. The Charizard's way of defending itself was to bring its electrified fist in front of itself to take the brunt of the attack. But its attempt to defend itself was in vain, and the electricity generated by Lapras overwhelmed the electricity made by the Charizard, shocking it with enough power to make it fall from the sky. The floor shook when the Charizard hit the floor, but it was quickly back on its feet, its tail lashing behind it furiously. Lapras moaned from the pain of his burn and began to shudder.

"Charizard, bring the heat!" I braced myself for some awful thing to happen. The pupil of the Charizard's eyes narrowed into slits before it began to roar and flap its wings. The flame on the tip of its tail flared, increasing in size before turning a shade of light blue. To be honest, it didn't seem like a dangerous action at first. "Fire Blast!" Blaine's Charizard opened its mouth and blue flames welled up from the back of its throat before it was shot out in the form of a ball, which transformed into a five-pronged symbol.

"Hydro Pump!" Lapras sprayed out a large stream of water to at least put out the Fire Blast, but it was so intense that the water only became steam upon impact, while the fiery attack pushed forward and hit Lapras dead on. Fire engulfed his entire body, covering it in more burns. Lapras cried out in pain and fell forward. He raised his head in an attempt to keep going, but the burns on his body sparked with embers and he cried out once again before collapsing for a final time. Lapras gave a pitiful-sounding cry before I returned him to his ball and sent him out behind me. The Water type looked apologetic as he made sad sounds. "Don't feel bad. You did a very good job for your first gym battle, Lapras." I sprayed some Burn Heal over his injuries, using up a bottle and a half in several minutes before I figured all of them were dealt with.

"How you holding up on Burn Heals?" Blaine asked. Or maybe he was mocking me. Either way, I didn't respond. He held a hand out and balled it up into a fist. "You've still got more Pokémon than I do right now, so send out your next one so I can even things up!"

I returned Lapras to his ball and narrowed my eyes as I thought about my next course of action. I only had three Pokémon left, none of which had any real protection against Fire type attacks—especially not that Charizard's charged up Fire Blast. Wartortle was a Water type, but not even a Hydro Pump could stop that attack, and he didn't know any attacks that were as strong as that.

"What's the matter? Thinking about giving up? I won't fault you for throwing the towel in the face of this raging volcano!" Blaine professed once more, his sunglasses shining in an ominous way.

Not really thinking, I grabbed a Poké Ball and sent out Snorlax, who was sleeping facedown. "Snorlax, _wake up_!" I shouted, trying to be forceful. That seemed to do the trick, because Snorlax stopped snoring and raised his head to look at me. "Get up, we have work to do!" He pointed at his open mouth. "Do we really have to do this? Couldn't I give you something later?" Snorlax frowned and went back to lying down on the floor. Once again, he had assumed control of the situation. "Fine. Here." I unwrapped another giant pretzel and tossed it at him. Snorlax raised an arm to grab the pretzel, then he raised his head to shove it into his mouth. The big glutton nimbly jumped onto his feet, the impact of his landing making the floor shake.

"Glad that's done with," Blaine spoke flatly. "Now maybe we can get started with important matters! Charizard, Fire Blast!"

"Hyper Beam!"

Flames built up in the back of the Charizard's mouth as a ball of bright light formed in Snorlax's. Both Pokémon fired their attacks at the same time. But as Charizard's Fire Blast transformed into that giant burning symbol, Snorlax's Hyper Beam just blasted through it like it was nothing. Blaine's Charizard didn't have a chance to guard before the attack hit, forcing it backwards. The attack did enough damage to make the Fire type kneel once it was done. However, Snorlax was tired out from using it. He sat down on the floor, trying to catch his breath.

"Now! While its guard is down, use Slash!" Suddenly, a glint appeared in the Charizard's eye before it spread its wings and flew at Snorlax. With a seemingly half-hearted swing of its claws, the Fire type slashed Snorlax across the stomach. "Now, Fire Blast!" Now up close, the Charizard was able to breathe an intense flame right into Snorlax's face, but when the attack ended, Snorlax was still sitting down, injured but refusing to fall over.

"Mega Punch!" With a bellow, Snorlax delivered an uppercut to the Charizard's jaw that had enough force to send it flying up to the ceiling. When its body made impact, a crater roughly its size had been made. Really, it was a miracle that a section of the ceiling hadn't come crumbling down. The flame on the tail of Blaine's Charizard changed from blue back to red before its body fell to the floor, its blank eyes signifying it was unconscious. Snorlax's response was to pump his arms up into the air and roar in victory…before the roar became a yawn and he fell over. He didn't snore, so I assumed he was either unconscious or somehow too exhausted to even snore, and most certainly not in any condition to keep on fighting.

I found myself returning Snorlax at the same time that Blaine did the same with his Pokémon, pushing down the thought that we might lose this battle. Although Blaine technically only had one Pokémon left while I had a healthy pair, neither one had a resistance against Fire type attacks.

"You're my last chance at victory…" Blaine said as he took out a Great Ball. "Regardless of whether we win or lose, at this point…all that matters is ending this fight with a blaze of glory! So bring the heat, Arcanine!" In a flash of light, an Arcanine appeared on Blaine's side of the battlefield. The only other time I'd fought one was when I battled Blue—and I'd been unprepared at that time. But Blaine's other Pokémon certainly had their share of surprises to give.

I grabbed Wartortle's ball and sent him out. The Arcanine roared and Wartortle pulled his head into his shell on reflex for a few seconds. When it popped back out, he taunted the larger Pokémon by turning around and shaking his tail. Pikachu had gotten up the energy to stand up and shout at Wartortle, shaking a fist in the air, while the turtle Pokémon just waved him off. I was too busy paying mind to Blaine to tell him to stop.

"Another strange-looking Pokémon… First things first, Arcanine! Get that Pokémon's scent!"

"Huh?" I couldn't help but be confused as Blaine's Arcanine began sniffing the air, but the confusion faded. If we were going to strike, it had to be now. "Wartortle, Surf!" Wartortle quickly turned around and jumped off of the floor. When he landed, a large wave of water was created beneath him and sped towards the Arcanine.

"Blaze right through it!" Blaine shouted. The Legendary Pokémon reared its back, and in the blink of an eye, it appeared in front of Wartortle, the wave he created hitting nothing. Wartortle stared in shock, surprised to see the larger Pokémon suddenly in front of him. "Toss it in the air!" The Arcanine soon had Wartortle in its teeth and managed to throw him up to the ceiling with a single flick of its head. "Fire Blast!"

"Withdraw!" Bubble Beam wouldn't be enough to counter such an attack, and he couldn't use Surf in midair. So Wartortle's only option was to minimize the damage he took by hiding out in his shell. Blaine's Arcanine howled and fired a large fireball up at Wartortle, which quickly became a burning symbol seconds before Wartortle withdrew into his shell. When the symbol made contact, it exploded and the shell caught on fire as it fell to the floor. Once the flames faded away, Wartortle poked his head and limbs back out once more, already looking quite exhausted. "Bubble Beam!" But he still found the strength to spew out a blast of foam at the Arcanine.

"Show them your speed! Tackle into it!" Blaine's Arcanine disappeared before the foam could hit it and reappeared just as it tackled into Wartortle, knocking him down on the back of his shell. "You like that? A move like Quick Attack can't compare to my Arcanine's speed!"

"I see…" I'd been expecting something fire-related like his other Pokémon, but it seemed that the trick behind his Arcanine was simply its speed. Faster than his Rapidash, it was able to move without being seen. If it weren't for Wartortle's unusual resilience against such an attack, he would've come off with some serious damage depending on just how fast the Arcanine was going. Speaking of which, Wartortle was flailing on his back before he managed to roll over and stand upright once more, glaring at Blaine's Pokémon.

"That didn't seem to be very effective," Blaine noted as he held his chin. "I'm impressed and intrigued… Arcanine! Meteor Tackle!" The Arcanine's body suddenly caught on fire before disappearing once again, leaving behind embers when it did. In an instant, a trail of embers almost circled around Wartortle before the larger Pokémon appeared again behind him, just as it tackled into the Water type and sent him skidding across the floor. "Hmm…! Arcanine, again!"

"Withdraw!" Wartortle pulled his head and limbs into his shell once more, a mere second before he was once again charged into from behind and the shell was sent skidding forward once more, spinning around. "Keep it up!" It was the best defense he could do at the moment against an opponent that was faster than him. "Bubble Beam!" As Wartortle spun around, he sprayed out suds and foam that went all over the place. The Arcanine couldn't avoid getting hit in the face with a bunch of foam.

"Oh, no! Arcanine, can you still trace the smell?" Blaine's Arcanine whimpered and shook its head.

"Trace the smell…" Could the Arcanine have been moving at such a speed that it couldn't see and needed its sense of smell to track Wartortle at that insane speed? If so, it was pure luck that granted us an advantage. At that point, Wartortle had stopped spinning and spraying out foam. It was risky, but this had to be tested. "Wartortle… Swamp the battlefield with Surf! Cover it with water!"

Wartortle popped out of his shell and, on all fours, hopped off the floor and created a wave of water that didn't have tremendous force behind it, but instead covered the floor with water.

"I can see what you're trying to do…" Blaine said as he adjusted his shades. "But it won't do you any good! Arcanine, charge! Bring the heat!" Once more, the Arcanine's body caught on fire and sped forward. It wasn't as fast as it had been before—maybe a side effect of the Bubble Beam—because I could actually see it now, and track its movements with the disturbance of the water. And so could Wartortle.

An orange blur moved towards Wartortle and circled around him, aiming to strike from the back. "Lash it!" Before it could hit, Wartortle used his long, scaly tail to strike the larger Pokémon in its face, right on the nose. It didn't seem to do much damage, and if anything, the contact left a burn on his tail, but the attack had been enough to stop the Arcanine from attacking. "Bite it with Hyper Fang!" Wartortle spun around and jumped at the Fire type to bury his teeth into its upper front leg.

"Blast! Shake it off, quickly!" The Arcanine began to run around in a circle, as if trying to get Wartortle to let go by going at a high speed. But that just seemed to make Wartortle sink his teeth deeper. The pain must have gotten to be too much, because the Arcanine flinched and wound up tripping, falling to the floor as a result. Even then, Wartortle kept a hold of the larger Pokémon. "If you can't shake it off, then _burn it off_!" Flames sparked to life around the Arcanine's body and engulfed both it and Wartortle. And still Wartortle held on, despite the way he flailed his limbs.

"Bubble Beam!" I shouted. Wartortle let go of Blaine's Arcanine to spray it with a large amount of foam and bubbles, right on the area where he had been biting its leg. The Arcanine howled in pain as Wartortle crawled away from it. It got back onto its feet, but it seemed exhausted. "Once more, Bubble Beam!"

"Use Fire Blast!"

Wartortle unleashed a spray of foam before Blaine's Arcanine unleashed a stream of fire from its mouth. When the two attacks met, Wartortle's Bubble Beam was gradually being pushed back, but it was obvious from the strained expression on his face and the way his tail whipped against the floor that he was struggling to succeed in the power struggle. That may have been the reason why a familiar bright white light surrounded him and his form began to change, growing larger. When the light dispersed, a strange-looking Blastoise was in his place. His dangerous-looking mouth was still the same, as was his long, thin and spiny tail, but the bumps on his shell had become rows of spikes trailing down his back, which looked sharp and pointy, and instead of a pair of cannons sticking out of his shell, he had a singular large cannon settled between the rows of spikes.

As Blastoise continued spraying out foam to hold back the Arcanine's fire, the cannon on his back suddenly jutted out and fired a ball of what I could only assume was compacted water. When the ball made contact, it exploded, and seemingly did enough damage to cause the Arcanine to cry out in pain and stop breathing fire, and at the same time, Blastoise stopped spraying foam from his mouth.

"A Blastoise…! So that means…" I found myself checking Blastoise over with my Pokédex, and to my relief, he had learned a new Water type move. "Blastoise! Hydro Pump!" I commanded. Blastoise bellowed as he cocked the water cannon on his back before tilting forward and firing a powerful jet of water at the Arcanine, who seemed too weak to dodge. The attack hit, the force sending the Arcanine flying backwards. Blaine ran out of the way to avoid being taken along with his Pokémon on its way to hitting the wall.

"Ar…Arcanine…!" Blaine stuttered as his Pokémon gave a dazed howl. "Can you get up?" It seemed conscious, but unable to move any longer. Blaine sighed and dabbed at his forehead before looking in my direction. I took the hint and met him in the middle of the battlefield, alongside of Blastoise while I held Pikachu in my arms. "That was impressive…! Your Pokémon may have gotten burned, but _mine_ were the ones who wound up burning out! You and your Pokémon have earned the Volcano Badge!" He handed me the Volcano Badge, which resembled a bright red flame. Blastoise bellowed in victory. Pikachu tried to do the same, but it came off somewhat weak in comparison. And all I could do was smile as I thanked Blaine.

 **X-X-X**

What happened after winning the Volcano Badge was a blur. No, it was more like it didn't matter. The trip back to the Pokémon Center, the night before leaving Cinnabar Island, the trip in the early morning along Route 21 as I sailed on Lapras while Blastoise swam alongside him and Charizard flew overhead… None of it mattered as much as getting back to Pallet Town. By the time I made it to my house, it was still quite early in the morning. Mom would still be at home, probably busy getting things ready for my arrival.

"I never took you home, did you?" I asked Pikachu, who had been on my shoulder, as I petted his head. "You've never even met Mom. She'll probably like you." Pikachu smiled and nodded as he gave a response.

I knocked on the door, and in a few seconds, Mom answered. Her reaction upon seeing me was to tear up, and then she hugged me tightly. "Oh, Red! Welcome home! Come in, come in!" I found myself being guided into our house, unable to get a word in. "If you came all the way from Cinnabar Island, you must be exhausted! Let me take your bag from you. Oh, and this must me Pikachu! Thank you for protecting Red for so long!"

I let Mom get out everything she wanted to say before I was made to go upstairs and wash up. It was amazing how easy it was for me to get back into my normal routine from before setting out on my journey. Aside from the presence of Pikchu and the rest of my Pokémon, it was like I never left home.

"This is so nice! It's been lonesome, staying in this house by myself," Mom said with a smile after we sat down for lunch. She had even gone so far as to give my Pokémon some food, although they had been forced to eat out in the back due to the size of most of them. "I only wish Daisy and Professor Oak were as fortunate as I am right now. They've been worried about Blue lately since he has contacted them in a while."

"…I'm sure he's fine," I said after a thoughtful pause. To be honest, I wasn't really sure of that. I just hoped that Blue was okay and that what happened had left him bitter.

"I hope so, too. No matter how smart or talented he is, he's still only a child, the same as you. Oh, not that I don't think your accomplishments aren't anything special honey."

"Can we not talk about that stuff, Mom?"

"Alright. You're probably sick and tired of hearing about it, aren't you?"

I nodded as I stared down at the food on my plate. I poked at it, not really sure how I should word what I wanted to say. It took a little while before I finally got up the courage to ask, "Mom? Did something happen to Dad on Cinnabar Island?" And even then, I didn't have the nerve to look at Mom as I asked. I heard her short gasp and the sound of her dropping some piece of cutlery onto her plate. "I found some papers in the Pokémon Mansion. They mentioned your name…and mine. I wasn't sure if it was a coincidence, though. So please…tell me about him. I have to know..."

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **The question about Rhydon is a reference to the episode of the anime where Ash's Pikachu defeated a Rhydon with an electric attack. The question also references the ability that serves as a reference to that same episode, Lightning Rod, which some Rhydon can have. But in the actual games, Rhydon's type prevents it from reaping the stat-boosting benefits of the ability.**

 **Some of Charizard's Pokédex entries state that when it's furious, the flame on its tail becomes whitish blue.**

 **Ninetales learns Confuse Ray from Gen II onward, and learns Solar Beam and Sunny Day via TM. Flareon learns Headbutt via TM in Gen II. Magmar learns Thunder Punch via TM, breeding and Move Tutor, Seismic Toss via TM and Move Tutor, and Mega Punch via TM. Charizard learns Twister and Thunder Punch via Move Tutor and Seismic Toss via TM. Rapidash learns Skull Bash via TM. Arcanine learns Extreme Speed from Gen 2 onward, as well as Flame Wheel, which could be described as a Fire-type Tackle.**

 **Blaine's team is a combination of the Pokémon he used in Pokémon Yellow (Ninetales, Rapidash and Arcanine) and half of the Pokémon used in the Kanto Leaders Tournament at the PWT in BW2 (Flareon, Charizard, and Magmar in place of Magmortar).**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


	20. Chapter 20 - The Strongest Trainer

**There are just three chapters left in this series! I am so excited! Are you excited? I'm excited.**

 _Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Just this fic._

 **X-X-X**

"What are they saying?"

"Obviously something juicy from the look on his ma's face."

"Is this even right? Eavesdropping on Red and his mother?"

"We wouldn't have to do this if we felt he confided in us about _everything_."

I grit my teeth before pulling my head out of the built-in pet door to the kitchen. "I can't hear them if you all don't _shut up_!" I hissed back at Charizard, Blastoise, Lapras and Ivysaur. Snorlax didn't seem to care about what was happening inside, and after finishing his meal, he had decided to steal some berries from the bushes that Red's mom probably grew herself. I then poked my head back into the kitchen and focused myself so I could better hear the conversation.

"His name was Satoshi," I heard Red's mother speak. "You look just like him. That's always been a comfort to me. He was…quiet. Tight-lipped. But he was kind and brilliant."

"I read…that he was being threatened by someone," Red began. "That we were all going to leave Cinnabar Island to escape from that person. But something obviously happened, so what was it?"

Red's mother sniffed. "I…!"

"I know it's painful, and I'm sorry if I'm making you think of bad memories. But…after everything I've been through…I think I can handle this!" I swore I could hear Red on the verge of tears himself.

"I won't give you such gruesome details! But it is true…that on the morning when your father was supposed to meet with us in Pallet Town, his body had been found on a beach. It was obvious that…whatever happened to him wasn't caused by the sort of Pokémon that lived on Cinnabar. But they never found the ones who were responsible for it. The property that your father inherited, the Pokémon Mansion, wound up falling under the ownership of another person, who hired his own scientists to continue your father's research. I always thought that maybe the person who bought the mansion and the one responsible for your father's…murder were connected."

"So why didn't you say anything?" Red asked, sounding agitated. "Why didn't you tell the police? _Someone_?"

"Who would listen to a grieving widow when the person she's accusing is obviously rich enough to do something? Besides, years later the Pokémon Mansion caught fire. That was around the time that…what happened to you happened. Yes…it was on the exact same day, actually. That terrible incident at your school. I didn't think about it so much because you were my main priority then. If there is only one reason why I can remember what happened, it was because Professor Oak's son was one of the victims of the fire."

"What? His son? So…Blue and Daisy's dad was involved?"

"It was the reason why they moved to Pallet Town to begin with. Their father was always busy with his work on Cinnabar, and they had no mother to take care of him, so they lived with their grandfather and visited the island once a month."

"…Right. Blue wasn't at school when it happened. Because he was on Cinnabar visiting his dad."

I heard Red's mother sniff once again. "Red. Are you angry with me? You understand why I didn't tell you, don't you? No child needs to know that their parent was involved in what your father was."

"I…think I understand."

"Do you really?"

"Yes."

Red's mother gave a sigh of relief. "Good. If we're both going to remember your father, I want him to be remembered in a positive way."

"Then…can we talk more about him later?"

"If you'd like."

I pulled my head out of the kitchen and looked at the other members of my team, minus Snorlax who was surrounded by the remains of the berries he'd eaten. Everyone stared at me, expecting an answer about what had happened, but it was Charizard who asked first, "Well, what happened? What were they all worked up about?"

"Was it something dramatic? Does Red have an evil twin brother? Does his mom have a deadly disease and she only has a month to live?" Blastoise asked as he bent down to look me in the eye.

"Seriously? You must be joking," Ivysaur grumbled. "But something must've happened. You look a bit upset."

"Um… Did something _bad_ happen?" Lapras asked.

"I…think that what happened between those two should remain between them," I sternly. "Unless he wants to tell us, I doubt it's going to be something he wants to talk about."

"Was it _that_ bad?" Charizard asked.

I shook my head. "It was…history. Sad and personal history."

The door leading into the kitchen suddenly opened, making all of us shout in surprise. Red stood in the doorway, looking confused. "Why are you all gathered around here? Did you want more food? I was actually planning for us to go and see Professor Oak so he could look over you guys."

None of us reacted and took to staring at Red. Then, Blastoise suddenly burst into tears and caught Red in a rough hug. "It's okay, buddy! We're here for ya! Whatever it is, we're here for ya!"

Charizard joined in, hugging Red from behind. "It's the least we could do after everything you've done for us!"

Lapras didn't say anything. He just bawled loudly and lowered his head to join in "comforting" Red. But it honestly looked like they were trying to crush him together. Ivysaur sighed and halfheartedly joined in with the comforting by patting Red's head with one of his vines. Snorlax, for seemingly no reason, got up and walked over to the ball of comfort to join in the hugging as well. I found myself jumping into the chaos of crying and sobbing, finding my way to Red's shoulder, where I patted him on the cheek. "Don't ask why. Because I'm not sure why this is happening, either."

 **X-X-X**

 _Chapter 20: The Self-Proclaimed Strongest Trainer!_

The rest of our time in Pallet Town was nothing much. We visited Professor Oak so he could have a look at the newly evolved Blastoise. I blocked out most of the visit because there was a lot of science-based talk that only Red could be interested in and I fell asleep partway through. The next gym was in Viridian City, but rather than stay at the Pokémon Center that was over there, we stayed in Red's house as we trained in preparation for our last gym battle. Sometimes, I would spy people wandering outside of the house, pointing at it and making comments about the celebrity who lived there. Sometimes they stuck around long enough to get a glimpse of Red, only to run off. Red remarked that their strange behavior was "Somehow different, and yet the same," but never tried to explain what that meant. But eventually, it was time for us to leave for Viridian City and our final gym battle.

"This is it. The Viridian City Gym," Red said as we stood in front of a building. The lights were off inside, and no one seemed to be in there. "It's still closed…" He looked down at me with a saddened expression. "I guess we'll come back tomorrow to see if it's open then."

We began to leave, but when we were a few feet away, a voice called out to us, "Yes?" We turned around to see a man standing in the doorway. He had dark hair and wore a black suit with a red 'R' on one side of his chest. He stared at us with an intense expression, sending chills up and down my spine. "Is there something you want?"

Red quickly turned around and approached the man, saying, "I've come to challenge the leader of the Viridian Gym."

"You're speaking to him." The gym leader continued to stare at us before smirking. "Well? Come inside so we can have our battle." He stood aside, waiting for us to enter the gym. We did what we were told and walked inside. The chills intensified for me as we followed the gym leader through the building's maze-like halls. What was it about this place and that man that was so unsettling? "I'm sorry to say that you've caught my gym while it's on hard times. My employees have unfortunately deserted me, so I am the only trainer here."

"I see. I'm sorry for that. I could come back at a later time if—"

"Don't be ridiculous. I've managed to fend off numerous trainers alone since reopening. I hope you'll be more entertaining than most of the trainers who have come through here."

"I've gotten seven badges already."

"Seven. Really. Either you must be quite the talented trainer or the quality of my fellow gym leaders has gone down since I've been away." Red and I kept silent as we followed Giovanni deeper into the gym. "Ordinarily, trainers would have to navigate through a series of puzzles while battling trainers, but I shut those features off. It seems pointless when there are no trainers to make it challenging. So consider yourself lucky."

I stared at the walls, trying to piece together my memory. There had to be a reason why this place seemed familiar in an uncomfortable way. I wanted to tell Red that I had a bad feeling about this place, but a part of me felt like I was being ridiculous. I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sight of the wide, open room that we had stepped into. In the center of the room was a battlefield made of earth, a large symbol in the shape of a Poké Ball painted in the middle of it.

Giovanni casually walked over to one end of the battlefield and turned around to look at us while he had his hands in his pockets. "Since this may be your eighth badge, I feel I should give you the fight of your life. So the only rule for this match is that we battle with all of the Pokémon at our disposal. The loser will be the one whose Pokémon are all unable to battle. Is that clear?"

"I accept those conditions."

The gym leader smiled in an unsettling way. "Good," was all he said before taking out a Poké Ball and sending a Dugtrio out onto the field.

"Dugtrio. In that case…" Red sent out Ivysaur. "Ivysaur, Poison Gas!" Ivysaur's flower bud shuddered before releasing a thick cloud of purple smoke that surrounded the Dugtrio.

"Sand Attack." The Dugtrio seemingly blew dirt in Ivysaur's face, blinding him. "Now, Rock Slide!" The Dugtrio disappeared underground for a few seconds, and when popped back up to the surface, large rocks flew out from beneath the ground and fell towards Ivysaur.

"Deflect with Vine Whip!" Ivysaur attempted to swipe the rocks away with the vines that slid out from under his flower's leaves, but he only managed to knock aside some of them, the rest he missed. Those he missed struck him and crumbled upon contact. "Razor Leaf!" Ivysaur then fired a flurry of leaves at the mole Pokémon.

"Dig underground!" Before the attack could hit, Giovanni's Dugtrio ducked underground to avoid the leaves. "Use Earthquake!" The battlefield began to shake violently. Ivysaur was so affected by it that he collapsed. "Rock Slide!" Once again, when the Dugtrio emerged above ground, it caused rocks to fly up out of the earth and fall towards Ivysaur.

"Leech Seed!" But instead of trying to prevent the Rock Slide, Red had Ivysaur fire a seed from his flower at the Dugtrio. The seed landed on the mole Pokémon and vines immediately sprouted from it, constricting each of its heads…or bodies…whatever they were called. The Dugtrio winced as the seed sapped its life alongside of the poison's effects. "Grab it!" One of Ivysaur's vines shot out and wrapped around the tallest head of the three-headed Pokémon.

"Go underground!" The Dugtrio attempted to go underground, but the hold Ivysaur had on the tallest head had apparently been strong enough to keep it above ground. I thought that maybe I'd finally get to see what a Dugtrio looks like out of the ground, but when Ivysaur pulled his vines, he instead dragged the Dugtrio through the earthen battlefield towards him. When the three-headed Pokémon had been close enough, Giovanni shouted, "Slash!" In the blink of an eye, Ivysaur was stumbling backwards with scratches on his head, but he still kept a hold of the Dugtrio.

"Dugtrio's whole body is an eternal mystery, isn't it?" I muttered.

"Strike it with Vine Whip!" With his free vine, Ivysaur began to whip the Dugtrio's heads, slapping them back and forth. "Keep it up!"

"Use Slash again!"

Ivysaur and the Dugtrio kept going back and forth with their attacks. While the Dugtrio's attacks were fast enough to go unseen, its stamina was quickly being drained because of the combination of Ivysaur's attacks, its poisoning, and the vines that continued draining its life. Eventually, it lost the strength to attack quickly and Ivysaur's strikes had been enough to stop it from attacking. Eventually, the Dugtrio's heads slumped over in different directions, showing that it was unconscious.

"Alright! Good job!" Red cheered Ivysaur on. At that moment, Ivysaur winced and collapsed on the ground. At first, it seemed like he had fainted, but then the flower on his back shuddered. He cried out in pain and became enveloped in a bright white light. When the light faded away, a larger Ivysaur stood in front of us. His body was a dark bluish green color with dark blue spots covering his body. The fully-bloomed dark purple flower seemed to have been made up of many petals, decorated with black spots, and surrounding it were large, dark green leaves and smaller, shorter vines covered in leaves and tiny purple flowers that hung down to his sides. The change didn't really seem as drastic as what happened to Charizard or Blastoise. In fact, it looked like a pretty obvious next step for the walking potted plant to become a larger potted plant. "He evolved into Venusaur. But what was with that reaction?" Red sked as he scanned Venusaur with his Pokédex.

"That seriously… _hurt_!" Venusaur growled as he shifted his body around.

Giovanni smirked and tilted his head to the side. At some point during Venusaur's evolution, he had called back his Dugtrio. "It evolved. So what? That won't prepare it for my next Pokémon!" With another Poké Ball, he sent out a Nidoqueen. It roared and stomped the ground once in an attempt to intimidate Venusaur. "Ice Beam!" The Nidoqueen roared as it fired a pale blue beam of crackling energy from its horn. At his new size, Venusaur definitely wasn't capable of dodging the attack. When it hit, Venusaur recoiled and frost covered his body.

"Leech Seed!" Venusaur fired a seed out of his large flower as the Nidoqueen charged at him. The seed landed on the spikier Pokémon's torso and wrapped around it. "Now, Petal Dance!" Venusaur stomped his forelegs before the large flower on his back rustled and released multiple purple flower petals that raced towards the Nidoqueen. The force behind the attack must have been greater than it looked, because the Nidoqueen was pushed back when it made contact. "Again!" Giovanni's Pokémon raised its arms to block the next blast of petals that hit it.

"Mega Kick!" The Nidoqueen began to charge forward. Without waiting for Red's command, Venusaur used Petal Dance again and fired another flurry of petals at the Nidoqueen. "Jump!" The smaller Pokémon jumped high up into the air to avoid his attack. As it was landing, the Nidoqueen kicked Venusaur in the head with enough force to make him collapse. It then jumped off of him and circled around, as if being cautious. "Earthquake!"

"Grab its legs!" As the Nidoqueen raised a foot to create a shockwave, vines slipped out from under Venusaur's large leaves and wrapped around its legs. "Now, slam it!" The vines suddenly tugged, causing the Nidoqueen to fall backwards. Then, with a bellow, Venusaur raised the Nidoqueen over his head and slammed it behind him before slamming it in front of him once more. But as he did, the Drill Pokémon punched the ground and caused it to shake violently. The force didn't seem to do much damage, but it had been enough to get Venusaur to loosen his grip on the Nidoqueen.

"Ice Beam!" The Drill Pokémon got up, turned to face Venusaur, and its horn fired another blast of cold energy in his face, covering his body with more frost.

"One more Petal Dance!" Venusaur roared and unleashed another flurry of petals on the Nidoqueen. When the attack hit, it knocked the Nidoqueen off of its feet and made it fall onto its back.

Giovanni didn't bother calling out to stir his Pokémon to get up. He seemed to know that last attack had knocked it out. So he just returned the Nidoqueen into its ball and took out yet another.

"Way to go, ya giant potted plant!" I cheered as I waved my arms in the air. "You're two for two!"

"Woohoo…" Venusaur called back in a dazed tone before he collapsed.

"He's exhausted himself from using Petal Dance so much," Red spoke. "You did great, Venusaur! Come back now!"

"Oh, thank goodness. I need time to defrost…!" Venusaur complained before he was returned to his Poké Ball.

Giovanni smirked as he held up his Poké Ball. "You've trained your Pokémon well. You've improved since we last met."

"Huh?" Red and I said at the same time.

"Have we…met before?" Red asked as he stared intently at the gym leader. Even the tone in his voice suggested that he felt wary. And to be honest, I was starting to feel the same. I stared long and hard at Giovanni's face as he began to chuckle softly, trying to remember. I felt that I heard that voice and saw that man a long time ago, but my happier present made me forget about my miserable past.

"I can't blame you for not understanding quickly. You're just a _dumb child_. What you pass as skill is most likely dumb luck," Giovanni spoke harshly as he tightened his grip on the Poké Ball. "Is your mind still drawing a blank? Let me give you a reminder..."

In a flash of light, a Nidoking appeared. Its body was covered in scratches and scars. A particularly long scar covered one side of its face, running down its eye. And then it came back to me.

 **X-X-X**

 _I cried out in pain as I was knocked back by its thick tail. Pain coursed through my body as I tried to get up, but before I could, the Nidoking stomped on my stomach. It grinded its foot into me and I screamed loudly. On impulse, I shocked the larger Pokémon, but it had no effect. It felt like I was going to break when I found it in me to unleash an attack. I felt water fill up my lungs, almost making me choke before a powerful, but small stream of water fired out of my mouth and hit the Nidoking in the face. The simple-looking attack had enough force to make the larger Pokémon stumble back, allowing me some breathing room to cough up water before attempting to roll over._

 _An annoyed growl made me think the one-sided battle was going to continue, but then I heard that voice speak up, "That's enough. This one has too much potential for you to throw a tantrum over." I then saw one of the white-clad, mask-wearing humans hovering over me before they bent over and stuck a needle in me. My body quickly became numb to any kind of sensation and unable to move as one of the Rockets picked me up. I caught a glimpse of the Nidoking's trainer, the one the other humans called 'Boss,' as I was carried away._

 **X-X-X**

"YOU!" I shouted as I pointed at the smirking gym leader.

"I… _You_? You're the boss of Team Rocket!" Red shouted as he glared at Giovanni. "What did you do with the gym leader?!"

The Rocket boss stopped smirking and began to glare at Red. "Don't be stupid and jump to conclusions. I have _always_ been the leader of the Viridian Gym. Since you _ruined_ my team, I decided to hide out here and continue my duties until I'm able to restore Team Rocket to its former glory. But what luck it was that I ran into two very familiar faces when I came back to work!"

"Two?" Red stared at Giovanni in confusion until realization showed in his eyes. "Blue!" He gasped. "What did you do to Blue?!"

The smirk returned to the Rocket boss's face. "If you win, maybe I'll tell you."

"If I win, you're going to jail where you belong!" All Giovanni did in response was laugh, and that seemed to be enough to agitate Red. He grabbed a Poké Ball and sent out Blastoise. "Blastoise, Hydro Pump!" The cannon on Blastoise's back extended before firing a powerful stream of water at the Nidoking. Without being instructed, the Drill Pokémon ducked to avoid the attack.

"Use Earthquake!" The Nidoking slammed its fist on the ground and caused the battlefield to shake violently. Blastoise became unbalanced and wound up falling backwards.

"Aw, c'mon! _Seriously_?!" Blastoise shouted as he flailed his limbs in the air.

"Way to be pathetic," I commented flatly before shouting, "NOW GET UP!"

"Blastoise, roll over!" Red commanded.

"Don't give it a chance! Use Horn Drill!" Giovanni's Nidoking roared as it charged forward. Blastoise grunted as he began to rock from side to side in a frantic manner. After a few seconds, he succeeded in rolling to the side to avoid the horn of the charging Nidoking just in time. "Horn Attack!" With a snort, the purple Pokémon lowered its head and rammed its horn against Blastoise's shell, but it bounced off easily. Blastoise chuckled as he got to his feet, thumping on the underside of his shell with his hand.

"Hyper Fang!" Surprisingly quickly for such a heavy guy, Blastoise stretched his neck out and bit down hard on the Nidoking's shoulder. In response, the Nidoking punched Blastoise in the face, but its attack did nothing. "Now, throw it up in the air and use Hydro Pump!" With a bit of effort, mainly due to the Nidoking resisting, he threw the Drill Pokémon high up into the air. Then Blastoise leaned forward so his cannon would be aimed directly as his target. As it fell, Blastoise fired a stream of water at it, blasting the Nidoking towards a wall, where it made a dent.

"YES! Make it beg for mercy!" I cheered Blastoise on. But I was surprised when the Nidoking pulled itself out of the dent in the wall and _ran_ back onto the battlefield. "Seriously?!"

"Unbelievable…! And that was a Hydro Pump!" Red spoke in awe.

"Did you seriously think I wasn't going to train my Pokémon after our last encounter?" Giovanni began with a sneer on his face. "The world's strongest trainer losing to a child who just started training Pokémon this year… I wanted to make sure a fluke like that that would never happen again! Nidoking, dig underground!"

At Giovanni's command, his Nidoking dug out a hole with its claws and disappeared underground. Blastoise looked around cautiously, turning around in a circle every few seconds. "Use Withdraw!" At Red's command, Blastoise pulled his head and limbs inside of his shell.

"That won't save you! Horn Drill!" All of a sudden, the ground beneath Blastoise broke apart and the Nidoking rammed its horn through the underside of his shell. Blastoise's shell spun through the air for a few seconds before landing on his back. His head and limbs then popped out, the pained expression on his face suggesting that he wasn't in any shape to keep fighting.

Red stilled for a few seconds before returning Blastoise to his Poké Ball. "I'm sorry. I should've seen that coming," he whispered to the ball before putting it away. He then sent out Charizard, who immediately began to snarl when he saw Giovanni's Nidoking. "Take to the air!" Charizard spread his wings and took to the air, circling over the battlefield.

"You're not safe up there, either! Nidoking, Thunder!" The Nidoking's horn began to crackle with electricity before a large bolt of electricity raced towards Charizard. But Charizard managed to dodge expertly, avoiding being struck.

"If that's his only way of attacking someone in the air, he's out of luck!" I commented.

"Trap it with Fire Spin!" Charizard stopped circling and stayed overhead of the Nidoking. He spewed out a spiraling flame that, when it made contact, exploded into a tornado of fire. "Now, do a midair Seismic Toss!" The Fire type dived down and flew into the flaming tornado. When he exited, Charizard was holding the Nidoking's shoulders as he flew back up into the air. Despite the Poison type struggling in his hold, Charizard spun the Nidoking around before throwing it down to the ground. "Slash!"

"Thrash!"

Charizard dived down with his claws bared while the Nidoking got up, spreading its arms with a roar. When they both got close to one another, they began swinging. Charizard's claws scratched into the Nidoking's hide while the Nidoking delivered brutal-looking punches to Charizard's face and torso. At one point, the Drill Pokémon grabbed hold of one of its opponent's wings and threw him aside, but Charizard stopped himself in midair and began to snarl.

"Flamethrower!" Charizard opened his mouth and flames began to build up in the back of his throat.

"Thunder!" Giovanni shouted. His Nidoking's horn crackled with electricity once more and fired a bolt at Charizard. The attack hit, but it did nothing to harm Charizard or stop the buildup to his attack.

With a roar, Charizard breathed out a massive stream of fire that consumed the Nidoking, who tried to block the attack. When the flames dispersed, the Nidoking stood there, still and badly burned, before it groaned and fell over, unconscious. At the same time, Charizard fell and landed on the ground, the pain of his injuries finally catching up to him. "Charizard, can you keep going?" Charizard got to his feet, but if his unsteadiness didn't prove his incapability to battle, the numerous scratches and bruises on him did. "Thanks, but I think that's enough from you for today. Take a rest," Red said as he returned the Fire type back into his ball.

Meanwhile, Giovanni returned his Nidoking to its own ball. He held the Poké Ball with a shaking hand before gripping it tightly. "How…? How is it that despite how much I trained my Pokémon…you're still giving me trouble?" He growled as he put away the ball. "That other boy was one thing, but _you_ …! How is it that _you_ , an inexperienced kid, prove to be close to my level?!" He snapped as he narrowed his eyes to glare at Red. Red said nothing in response, and that seemed to infuriate the Rocket boss. "You're such an insufferable _brat_! I _will_ crush you and make you regret meddling in my affairs!" Giovanni took out another Poké Ball and sent out his familiar-looking Rhydon. The sight of it made me shudder and brought to mind another painful experience.

Silently, Red sent out Snorlax…who was asleep. "WILL YOU GET UP?! WE'RE IN A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION!" I screamed as electricity crackled around my body. Red took out a brown paper bag—the lunch he had received from his mother before we left Pallet Town—and gave it a few shakes. He then tossed the bag to Snorlax, who raised an arm and caught it. The giant lump of a Pokémon opened his mouth and emptied its contents, which were a sandwich, an apple, some rice balls, and a juice box, into it. I glared up at Red as Snorlax got to his feet. "You need to stop supporting this kind of behavior, because now it's just ridiculous."

"Snorlax, use Surf!" Snorlax hopped off of the ground and sent a tidal wave racing towards Giovanni's Rhydon. The drill-horned Pokémon didn't attempt to brace itself or dodge. It just stood still and took the attack head on.

"Mega Punch!" The Rhydon ran towards Snorlax and slugged him across the face. The blow caused Snorlax to step back, but that's all it did. "Again!"

"Seismic Toss!" Snorlax grabbed hold of the Drill Pokémon's fist with both of his paws before it could hit him. He then spun around a few times before flinging the Rhydon away from him. It landed with a heavy sound, but was soon back on its feet. "Use Surf Again!"

"Earthquake!" Snorlax hopped off of the ground, creating another tidal wave that moved towards the Rhydon. Before the attack could hit, the Rhydon stopped its foot, causing the ground to shake. As Snorlax's attack hit the drill-horned Pokémon, the shockwave caused by the violent earthquake made Snorlax fall over. "Use Horn Drill!" The Rhydon's horn began to spin before it charged forward, its head lowered.

Snorlax pushed himself up and stretched out his arms to hold back the Rhydon. The two wrestled for a few seconds before the Rhydon managed to win the struggle and rammed its spinning horn into Snorlax's body. Snorlax cried out in pain and fell over backwards before falling unconscious, clutching the part of his body where he had been injured.

"Horn Drill's an unfair move," I commented as Red returned Snorlax to his ball. Without a word, he sent out Lapras, who looked somewhat intimidated by the Rhydon in front of him. "You can do it, Lapras!"

Giovanni smirked. "Thunderbolt!" The Rhydon's horn began to spin once more and started to crackle with electricity.

"Counter with Thunderbolt!" Then Lapras's horn began to crackle with electricity as well. At the same time, the two attacks were fired in the form of bolts of electricity. When they hit one another, they dispersed into sparks. "Now, Hydro Pump!" Lapras opened his mouth and sprayed a large stream of water at the Rhydon, and when the Hydro Pump made impact, the force of it pushed the Drill Pokémon far back. The attack had done more damage than what Snorlax's Surf, so it seemed like the Rhydon was on its last legs. "Finish it with Ice Beam!"

"Thunderbolt!"

Lapras's horn crackled with pale blue energy before firing the Ice Beam. At the same time, the Rhydon fired a Thunderbolt at Lapras. The two attacks sped by one another, hitting their intended targets. Frost covered the Rhydon's entire chest when the Ice Beam hit, and the force of the impact caused it to fall over. But the electricity that hit Lapras only made him cry out in pain, and didn't seem to do very serious damage.

"Are you okay to fight?" Red called out.

"I'm still alive, so…I guess so," Lapras spoke as he nodded.

By this point, Giovanni looked absolutely furious. He returned his Rhydon to its ball and sent out Persian. Our eyes met and the cat Pokémon smiled in a wicked manner. I tugged on Red's pants to get his attention, saying "Let _me_ fight! If anyone has to take that guy down a peg, it's me!"

Red looked down at me. "You want to fight, Pikachu? I know it's not a Ground type, but it's still not a normal Pokémon. Who knows what sort of tricks it's picked up since the last time we saw it?"

"It won't matter what he throws at me! The one who has to knock some sense into him has to be me!" I insisted.

Red stared at me for a few seconds before nodding. "Lapras, you've done enough," he said as he returned Lapras into his ball. "Pikachu, do your best."

I smiled and nodded. "There's no doubt I will!" I ran out onto the battlefield, a few feet away from Persian.

"I'm going to make sure that this is the last time we meet," Persian threatened as he held up a paw. "First you, then your friends and your trainer."

I didn't respond. There was no reason to. I still felt a bit of pity for him, but nothing was going to change Persian's twisted mind at this point. He was just like his trainer now, and for that, he needed to be stopped.

"Pikachu, Thunder Wave!" In an instant, I zapped Persian with a paralyzing jolt of electricity. "Move back and use Swift!" I jumped away from the cat Pokémon and spun in a circle, firing a barrage of stars that hit Persian in the face.

"Wrap!" I almost recoiled in disgust as a slender, pink tentacle stretched out of Persian's back and raced towards me as the gem on his forehead changed to pure white. The tentacle wrapped around me and began to squeeze tightly. "Bonemerang!" The gem on Persian's head went from white to brown. As if the tentacle holding me wasn't disgusting enough, with a cry, a _bone_ came out of one side of his body and flew towards me. The bone struck me across my face twice before making a return trip to Persian's body, sinking back in there as easily as it had come out.

"Thunder!" I charged up before I unleashed a large amount of electricity in the form of a giant lightning bolt. When the lightning bolt hit Persian, the force was enough to make him release the hold of his tentacle and slid it back into his body. "Use Quick Attack and Double Team!" I began to run around Persian while he was paralyzed from the attack. I soon began leaving copies of myself behind me, and soon there was a circle of Pikachu running around the cat Pokémon.

"Vine Whip!" Once Persian recovered from his paralysis, the gem on his head turned green. Half a dozen tentacles shot out of his body and struck at me and my clones at the same time, and only I was able to _barely_ dodge the attack by suddenly standing upright in the nick of time. "Bonemerang!" Another bone came flying out of a part of Persian's body and spun towards me.

"Try to knock it back with Slam!" I spun around, hitting the flying bone with my tail. Doing so _really_ hurt and I found myself grabbing my tail and massaging it, but I was successful in knocking the bone back and getting it to hit Persian in the eye.

"Psybeam!" Once he recovered from the blow to his face, the gem on Persian's head glowed bright pink before it fired a beam of multicolored energy at me faster than I could dodge. The force of the attack sent me tumbling backwards, and even after stopping and resting on my stomach, the world seemed to spin. "Fissure!" Persian stood on his hind legs for a few seconds before slamming his front paws down on the ground. Even in my dazed state, I could see the crack in the battlefield that was beginning to open up.

"Pikachu, move!" At Red's panicked shouting, I got back to my feet, still feeling unsteady. As the crack in the ground traveled towards me, I jumped to the side and avoided the hole that quickly opened in the place where I had been standing.

"Bonemerang!" Once again, a bone came out of Persian and came flying at me.

"Knock it back!" I got on my hind feet and stood shakily. I spun around to strike the bone back, but I mistimed my spin and instead got knocked upside the head by it twice on its return trip. I fell over, clutching my head. The world had stopped spinning, but now that annoyance had been replaced by a headache. "Get in close with Quick Attack!" I immediately rolled over and launched myself at the Persian. In an instant, I had tackled into him. "Slam!" I spun around to strike the cat across the leg, sweeping him off his feet. "Thunderbolt!"

"Psybeam!" I jumped aside in time to avoid being hit in the face by a blast of psychic energy. Then I charged up and shocked Persian with a bolt of electricity. "Grab it with Wrap and finish it off already!" I watched as the tentacles began to stretch out of Persian's body. I jumped back to avoid getting bound up, but I didn't need to do that. Persian shook a bit, but seemed to become paralyzed. Even his tentacles had frozen in midair.

"Use Thunder!"

I smirked as I charged up. After a while, I unleashed a large bolt of electricity at Persian. When he was electrocuted, he yowled in pain, and didn't stop until the attack had stopped. Persian collapsed on all fours, badly injured and lightly scorched from his electrocution. But he continued to glare at me from his position on the ground. " _How_ …? Being beaten by a weakling like you? What am I doing wrong…?" Persian growled.

"I'm fighting for someone who cares about me no matter what happens or what I do. You're fighting for the wrong kind of person. That's what you did wrong."

"I fight for a human who I think is _worth_ fighting for!" Persian snapped. He then began forcing himself to stand up, shaky on his feet, as he kept his glaring eyes on me. "And I'll…keep…fighting…for him…!" He then collapsed again, but this time, his head hit the ground and he didn't seem to be moving. The part of me that still felt sympathetic towards him hoped he was just unconscious.

"You're really stupid, considering that he probably doesn't think you're anything…" I mumbled as I watched Giovanni return Persian into his Poké Ball.

"Do you have a sixth Pokémon? Because if not, then I've won," said Red, sounded more upset than happy. "Now tell me: what did you do to Blue?!"

Giovanni clenched his teeth in anger, but after a few seconds, he began to smirk. Then he started to laugh. "Heh…! Hahahahaha! Are you serious?! Did you really think it was _that_ easy? That I was going to give you what you wanted? Maybe you thought I was going to reform! And waste my skill and power on something ridiculous like studying Pokémon!" Giovanni continued to laugh like a madman as he took out a black Poké Ball. "I didn't think I would ever have to use this one, but I'm actually _anxious_ about this! Let me show you a Pokémon so _terrifyingly_ _powerful_ that only the greatest trainer in the world could make it kneel before him!"

In a flash of light, Giovanni released… _something_. I couldn't tell _what_. At first, I thought it was a robot like the ones I'd seen on TV because of the metal covering parts of its body. But I could make out the parts of its body that were made of flesh—its legs, feet, arms, ears, strange-looking hands, and the big purple tail that swished about behind it. And for a brief moment, I thought I saw something glowing behind the dark glass the covered its head.

"What the heck is _that_?!" I screamed, pointing at the Pokémon and saying what I'm sure Red was thinking. I glanced back at said boy to when I didn't hear him say anything. He was scanning the mystery Pokémon with his Pokédex, but the expression of shock on his face was unexpected. "I don't like that look…"

"A Pokémon that's not even in the Pokédex?!" Red gasped.

"It's more than that," Giovanni began with a smirk. "Do you remember what I told you about the Pokémon Mew? The Pokémon you see before you is actually a clone of Mew that has been modified and made more powerful than the original!"

"You mean…Mewtwo?"

Giovanni looked slightly surprised. "How on earth do you know that?"

Red ignored his question, still fixated on this thing called Mewtwo. "Where did you get it? What did you do to get it? And why did you do _that_ to it?"

"Enough questions. Mewtwo! Use Psychic to crush this boy's Pikachu, and then do it to him!" I braced myself, getting ready for a fight. But after a few seconds, nothing happened. I lowered my guard, confused about what was going on. "Mewtwo! Do as I command!"

" _No_ , _"_ an unfamiliar voice spoke, echoing in my mind. It reminded me of the psychic of the Saffron Gym—both human _and_ Pokémon—who seemed to think there was nothing wrong with speaking through telepathy. Really, it could have only been the armor-clad Pokémon standing in front of me who was speaking.

Despite Mewtwo being his Pokémon, Giovanni seemed surprised. "You're able to speak? But…the armor…! It was supposed to restrict you!"

" _The world's greatest trainer… What a foolish idea. Any sort of greatness you've achieved has nothing to do with you, but with the Pokémon you use as tools. Even my own power, which you feared enough to try and restrain, had been honed to pursue your desires. But…"_ Mewtwo turned around to face Giovanni. _"I have had enough of being a tool for humans."_

Mewtwo folded his arms across his chest, and when he spread them apart, a massive burst of psychic energy was unleashed. The force of it had sent me flying back, and I wound up hitting something softer than the wall. Wincing in pain, I looked up to see Red holding me in his arms. He had an expression of pain on his face as he leaned against the wall behind him, which now had a decent-sized dent. Several feet away, on the other side of the room, Giovanni was in the same position as Red. And standing over him was Mewtwo, who seemed to have thrown off his armor with that attack.

" _Giovanni Rossi… You've hurt many humans and Pokémon in the pursuit of power. Now you will know what it is like to be crushed by a stronger being."_ Mewtwo's body began to radiate with wisps of blue energy. _"I will destroy you!"_

"Wait! S-stop…!" Red exclaimed as he forced himself to stand up, still holding me in his arms. "I know he's an awful person—a _terrible_ person, but killing him isn't the right thing to do! Please, Mewtwo! What…what would Satoshi want you to do?!"

"Satoshi?" was all I got to mumble before some invisible force grabbed hold of Red and pulled him towards Mewtwo. "I don't think he likes Satoshi."

" _I despise that name as much as the man it belongs to,"_ Mewtwo spoke telepathically as he turned to look at Red. Once again, an invisible force lifted Red up off the ground so he was at eye level with the Pokémon. _"The man who abandoned me to people like Team Rocket."_ Up this close, I could tell that its eyes were pale purple and reflected anger.

"But he didn't want to do anything to harm you! He wanted to _protect_ you from people like that!"

" _My reason for existing is to fight and crush all in my path. He created me for that purpose."_

"He created you for the sake of clearing someone else's reputation!"

" _That's still the same. My only reason for existing is for the sake of humans who want to use me."_

"Maybe you should stop talking about you-know-who?" I suggested to no avail. "A-anyway, I understand that you've been hurt by humans and that's made you see them in a bad light, but whatever problems you've had with Team Rocket and that Satoshi guy shouldn't count for all of them! Take Red: he's one of the best humans out there!"

A light of recognition appeared in Mewtwo's eyes as he stared at me. _"Red?"_ He looked back at Red, who wore a pleading expression. _"You mean…_ _ **that**_ _Red?"_

"I… Yes," Red admitted, looking strangely calm despite the position we were in. "I'm too young to remember you, but…Satoshi was my father. And I know that he wanted you to live a life like any normal Pokémon. That he wanted to save you from the people who…did so many bad things to you! He could've just given you up, but he _died_ trying to _save_ you! What more proof do you want that whatever reasons he had for creating you in the first place, he changed and wanted what was best for you in the end?!"

" _He's…dead?"_ Mewtwo fell silent and kept staring at Red. His eyes flashed blue for a few seconds before returning to normal. _"You_ _ **are**_ _his son. But no matter what good intentions he had for me in the end…he still abandoned me!"_

I narrowed my eyes and frowned. "You hear a guy died trying to protect you, and all you can think is _'he couldn't save me, so it's all_ _ **his**_ _fault I'm in this mess'_?! How old are you? You're worse than a kid!" I snapped as I pointed at the bigger Pokémon. "All you want is someone to blame for your pain, and you don't even care if they're responsible!"

That may have been the _wrong_ thing to do, because in an instant, Red and I were flattened against the ground by an unseen force. Mewtwo glared down at us before he placed a foot on Red's stomach. _"As Satoshi's son, you've inherited the punishment I have dreamed of giving to him for so long. In a way, it's poetic that I'll be destroying one who could technically be considered one of his last creations: his own flesh and blood."_

"You really _are_ just looking for someone to blame, aren't you?" A second unfamiliar voice spoke.

"Oh, what now?" I grumbled.

"What was that?" Red asked, straining his neck to look around.

" _You again!"_ Mewtwo growled as he began to look around the room. _"Show your face, you coward!"_

"So you can take your anger out on someone else?" A small Pokémon suddenly appeared, floating in front of Mewtwo's face. Its body was covered in pale pink fur, its eyes were blue, and its tail was long and thin. "Well, I guess I'm better suited to be your punching bag than anyone else."

Red looked shocked. "That's…a _Mew_! An actual Mew! …I think."

"You _think_?" I repeated.

"All there have ever been of it are ancient carvings and blurry photographs…but it matches the typical description."

" _You're going to regret showing up before me again!"_ Mewtwo threatened as an aura of golden energy began to radiate around his hands. Mew flew up towards the ceiling as Mewtwo swung his hands, unleashing a ray of stars from each. Mew countered by doing a spin, releasing his own ray of stars. The two attacks collided, dissipating into sparkling dust that quickly faded away. Mewtwo then formed a ball of dark purple energy between his hands before launching it at Mew. But a transparent barrier appeared around the smaller Pokémon like a bubble, and the attack reflected back to Mewtwo, who sent it flying into a wall with a gesture of his hand. _"Fight back! Is it because you're so weak that all you do is defend?"_

"Why are you so obsessed with being stronger?" Mew asked innocently.

" _I am the strongest Pokémon in existence! There's no one stronger than me! Even the original is no match for my power!"_

"But I'm _not_ the original. I'm the same as you: a copy of a Mew."

" _ **You**_ _are an inferior copy!"_ Mewtwo shouted as he fired a large beam of golden-colored energy at Mew. Mew didn't bother using a move and simply dodged the attack, letting it blast through the ceiling and create a large hole. Mewtwo suddenly grunted in pain and held onto his head. A thin trail of blood ran down his nostril as he coughed.

Mew gasped and immediately flew down next to Mewtwo's shoulder. "Are you okay? You're bleeding!" He flew back to avoid being struck as the taller Pokémon swung his arm to get him to move away. "So you insist on continuing to fight, knowing your condition?"

" _I'll crush you and prove my superiority!"_

"Okay then. Betcha can't catch me!" Mew exclaimed as he flew out of the gym through the hole in the building.

" _You can't run from me!"_ Mewtwo shouted as he began to float off the ground. He then flew through the hole in the ceiling in pursuit.

"…Well, _that_ was something," I spoke after a few seconds. "I wish I knew what it was, but it was something…"

Red sat up, still holding me in his arms. "That Mew… Mewtwo called it an inferior copy. I wonder if it was Dr. Fuji's Mew rather than an original Mew." He looked down at me. "What do you think the chances of that are?"

"I don't even know what happened! What makes you think I know _that_?" I asked, sounding exasperated.

"Yeah, I know… It's ridiculous to think about a thing like that considering what…" Red trailed off and gasped. "Giovanni! Where'd he go?!"

"Huh? HUH?!" I can't believe I actually forgot about the criminal mastermind who was standing in the room with us. Or rather, who _had been_ standing in the room with us, because now he had disappeared, leaving Red and I alone in the gym. "He ran away?! What a slippery coward!" I snapped.

"It seems he left while Mewtwo wasn't focused on him… But what's that on the ground?" Red got on his feet, wincing slightly, and moved over to something small and shimmery on the floor. It was two shades of green and sort of resembled a feather. "I think…it's the badge for the Viridian Gym." He looked down at me. "Do you think he left it on purpose?"

"Doubt it," I said flatly with a shake of my head.

"Yeah, I doubt so, too."

As Red bent over to pick up the badge, another unfamiliar voice shouted, "HELOOOO! Anyone in here?!" A man ran into the room, panting. "I saw….from outside! The roof blowing up, and then something flying _through_ the roof and off into the distance! Mr. Giovanni, are you okay?!" He saw us and ran over. "Hey, kid! That's the Earth Badge you've got there, but where's Mr. Giovanni? What the heck happened?!" Red explained the situation, more or less. The guy, who turned out to be a guide for the Viridian Gym, was shocked by what he'd heard. "WHAT?! Mr. Giovanni, a _criminal_?! And not just any criminal, but the leader of Team Rocket?! I've been aiding and abetting a criminal without even knowing it!"

"You really didn't know?" Red asked, sounding suspicious.

"Well, I did think it was weird how he would take off for weeks at a time with the gym trainers, but I just assumed he had a busy life. He said he had a side business. Even said the gym trainers worked for him on the side!" The man looked like he suddenly had a realization. "That must be why none of the usual guys were here since he reopened! They're all probably on the run! W-we gotta call the authorities! You don't mind sticking around to answer some questions, do ya, kid?"

Red sighed and shook his head. "No, I don't…" As the man walked away to call the police, Red looked down at me. "What do you think is gonna happen after this, Pikachu?"

I sighed as well as I stared up at the hole in the gym's ceiling. "Once again: what makes you think _I_ know?"

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **In Yellow, Giovanni uses a Persian instead of a Rhyhorn. He never uses a Mewtwo.**

 **In the Gen 1 games, Giovanni remarks that he's going to dedicate his life to studying Pokémon after losing to the player for the last time. In the remakes, he simply says that he's going to go into training**

 **Dugtrio learns Rock Slide via TM. Nidoqueen learns Ice Beam, Mega Kick and Earthquake via TM. Venusaur learns Petal Dance via breeding (since Gen 2) and by level up (since Gen 4). Nidoking learns Thunder and Earthquake via TM. Blastoise learns Ice Beam via TM and Move Tutor. Rhydon learns Mega Punch and Thunderbolt via TM. Snorlax learns Seismic Toss via TM. Lapras learns Thunderbolt via TM.**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


	21. Chapter 21 - The Final Stretch

**The Pokemon League Challenge ends with this chapter! But that doesn't mean this is the final chapter. Fufufu...!  
**

 _Disclaimer : Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Only this story._

 **X-X-X**

After meeting the boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni, for what I hoped was the last time, I became involved in yet another media blowup. The news that Team Rocket had a hideout in the Viridian Gym, that the trainers in it were all dangerous and wanted criminals, and that the gym leader was also the Rocket leader, naturally cast a bad light on the Pokémon League. The people in charge of assigning gym leaders claimed that they had no idea of Giovanni's double life as a crime boss, but considering that Team Rocket had ties with people in Silph and had bought off policemen in the past, everyone was skeptical that the League was entirely innocent.

With no gym leader to take over, no one in Kanto would be able to challenge the Pokémon League after the truth was revealed. Apparently, not just anyone can become a gym trainer, so it would take a long time before they found someone to replace Giovanni as the Viridian Gym's new leader. Meaning that I was fortunate to have found the Earth Badge when I did—otherwise, I would have to wait months for a chance to challenge the Elite Four.

But even bigger relief came in the form of knowing that Blue was okay. The Viridian Gym guide had said it himself. Blue defeated Giovanni, got the Earth Badge, and just left. A part of me doubted he went through the gauntlet that I did, especially considering that man's grudge against me in particular, but knowing that Blue was alive and well almost made up for the fact that he still hadn't called home in weeks. Was he off training, preparing to take on the Elite Four? Most likely.

Then there was the subject of Mewtwo and Mew. I had told Professor Oak about them, and of course, one of the very first things he did was to lament about how fortunate I was to encounter two different versions of an incredibly rare Pokémon. He asked for a description of Mewtwo in particular, to add to the Pokédex in the future. But after his excitement over a newly discovered creature had been created, we actually discussed the two in a more serious way.

"So you think the Mew you saw was the same clone that Dr. Fuji let go? And that Mewtwo was an attempt to reproduce the same effect as his experiment and improve on it? And this all took place at the Pokémon Mansion on Cinnabar Island…" Professor Oak sighed and covered a hand over his eyes. He had been sitting behind his desk in his lab when I first found him.

"I'm…sorry about your son, professor." I wasn't sure what I felt sorry for. For his son aiding and abetting criminals, possibly willingly? For helping to twist Mewtwo into some weapon of destruction? For him dying as a possible result of his actions? I certainly didn't want to be _mad_ at him. I would rather believe that he did everything he did to Mewtwo unwittingly, or even with what he considered good intentions. Anything but seeing Blue and Daisy's dad as a criminal.

Professor Oak uncovered his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "You know, my son always tried to do something that would get himself noticed as anything but my son. That's probably what made him accept that job offer in the first place. Experimenting on a clone of Mew…" He sighed. "And look where it got him. Look what it did."

"I'm sure he didn't mean for Mewtwo to turn out the way he did," I insisted.

"I…would like to think so, too." We both fell silent for a few seconds. But then the professor spoke up, "Please don't tell Blue or Daisy about this, Red. It would probably break their hearts to learn what he had been involved in…" He then snorted. "But who am I kidding? If they learn of Mewtwo's connection to the Pokémon Mansion, they'll figure it out right away. They're such sharp kids. "

"Um…look on the bright side," I said, trying to cheer the professor up. "Blue's okay, at least. He got a gym badge from the Viridian Gym just a few days ago. Which proves him not calling home for so long is just Blue being his usual, inconsiderate self."

"That _is_ a comfort to know, albeit a _small_ one." Professor Oak closed his eyes for a minute, as if he was thinking of something. Then he opened them and smiled. "Ah, but enough about my family! You've got all eight of your gym badges already, haven't you? It means that you're now able to challenge the Pokémon League!" I nodded shyly, trying my best to hide my smile and failing at it. "Are you going to stick around town and train for a couple of days, or at you going to just call the trek through Victory Road training?"

"Mom hasn't seen me in a long while, so she wants me stay for a few more days. I need to train, anyway. The Elite Four is sure to be no joke. You can look over Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur in the meanwhile, if you want."

The professor suddenly looked as giddy as a child receiving a present. "Of course I do! I can't wait to see what they can do and make all sorts of comparisons…!"

Listening to Professor Oak ramble about his studies, however, wasn't enough to help me forget about Mewtwo. He was angry and eager to lash out with violence. I remembered seeing him get a nosebleed while fighting Mew, and wondered if there was possibly something wrong with him. What harm could he wind up doing to some poor person or Pokémon who crossed his path? Or what harm could happen to _him_ while he was out there if there really was something wrong with him? I felt that it was my responsibility to help Mewtwo, if possible.

"So, would you like to see a live comparison of the might between your Blastoise and a typical Blastoise?"

"Yes, I would!" I said, pushing the thought of Mewtwo to the back of my mind. For now, hopefully, life would get back to normal. And I could focus on what I set out on my journey for: becoming the champion of the Indigo League **.**

 **X-X-X**

 _Chapter 21: The Final Stretch_

After spending three days at home training up in preparation for the Elite Four, I left Pallet Town with Pikachu and five brown paper bags of lunch made by my mother—four being for Snorlax. After going west of Viridian City, we got through the reception gate to the Pokémon League after showing all eight of my badges. Then, after a long trek along Route 23, we traveled through Victory Road, the supposed home of Moltres…although I never got to see even a glimpse of it. Or maybe I didn't notice it. I admit that my mind was entirely on the Pokémon League and the battles that awaited me, only snapping out of it when I was challenged by some eager person also on their way there. A gauntlet of four powerful trainers who would test how well I prepared and trained my Pokémon. So my thoughts were all plans on how to approach this situation and that when they weren't concerned with the wellbeing of myself and my Pokémon.

When we reached the end of Victory Road and stepped back out into the sunlight, the grandeur of the Indigo Plateau stood before us: a large, almost intimidating-looking building, the path leading up to it decorated with fancy archways, Pokémon statues, and flower bushes. The sight of it took my breath away, and I would've stood there for minutes if Pikachu hadn't snapped me back to attention and made me keep going forward.

We entered the building and found the entrance to be something like a Pokémon Center. There were a few counters with healing machines behind them, but only a single nurse was standing duty. In a corner was another counter with a sign promoting a sale on various Pokémon battle-related goods. An escalator led upstairs to what I assumed were rooms for trainers who had traveled far and wanted to rest before challenging the Elite Four. And at the very end of the room was a pair of fancy-looking double doors, guarded by a pair of men dressed in uniforms.

"Pikachu," I said, bringing Pikachu's attention on me. I looked down at him, unable to hide how nervous I felt. "This is it. We're going to challenge the Elite Four. Once we go through those doors, we won't be able to go back to the Pokémon Center unless we win it all…or we lose. Whatever the result…I know you'll all do your best, and I'm glad we got to travel together." Pikachu snapped at me and pointed, as if saying that we were going to win. "Sorry. That's the sort of thing I should leave for after we win, right?"

After healing my Pokémon and stocking up on items to use between matches, I approached the men standing guard at the doors and confirmed that I was here to challenge the Elite Four. Without a word, they stepped aside and opened the doors at the same time. Almost immediately, I was hit by a blast of cold air and shivered. For a brief moment, I thought the apathetic-looking guards were chuckling about my reaction. Taking a few more seconds to steel my nerves, I began to walk down the hallway with Pikachu to the first member of the Elite Four.

At the end of the hallway was a room. In the middle was a battlefield, surrounded by what seemed to be frozen water, and standing in the middle of the battlefield was a red-haired woman wearing glasses and clothes that didn't fit with the temperature of the environment. When we approached her on the battlefield, she introduced herself before I could. "Welcome to the Pokémon League! I am Lorelei, first of the Elite Four! As you can probably guess, my specialty are Ice type Pokémon! And who, may I ask, are you, little boy?"

I gulped, trying not to shiver and stutter out my response, "I'm Red Ketchum. I've come to challenge you."

Lorelei smirked as she adjusted her glasses, then she gave me a look as if she were sizing me up. "You're quite young to be challenging the Elite Four, Red. That's got me curious about your skill as a trainer." She took out a Poké Ball, her eyes still focused on me. "But no matter how skilled you and your Pokémon are, you'll be at ourr mercy when you're frozen solid! If you're ready, then let's go!" We took our positions on opposite ends of the battlefield. The first Pokémon she sent out was a Dewgong, which clapped its flippers together as it barked. In response, I sent out Pikachu, who seemed best equipped to handle a Water type who also used Ice type moves. "Putting your faith in a Pikachu? Risky. Dewgong, use Aurora Beam!" The horn on her Dewgong's head began to shine with a rainbow of colors before firing a beam of energy at Pikachu. The attack hit, sending Pikachu sliding backwards, but he was still okay to fight. "Now, Blizzard!"

"Use Quick Attack!" As the Dewgong blew out an extremely cold wind, Pikachu ran out of the way and zigzagged towards the Sea Lion Pokémon before tackling into it. "Thunderbolt!"

"Take Down!" Before Pikachu could attack, the Dewgong slid itself back before sliding forward headfirst. It rammed into Pikachu and sent him sliding backwards, but during that time, he unleashed a bolt of electricity that zapped the Dewgong. The attack along with the recoil from Take Down seemed to help to tire it out. "Rest." At Lorelei's command, her Dewgong laid down on the battlefield and fell asleep. The visible injuries that had been caused by Pikachu's attacks slowly faded away as it healed itself.

But falling asleep also meant that it would be a sitting duck. "Use Thunder!" Pikachu charged up a large amount of power before unleashing a big thunderbolt. When the thunderbolt hit the Dewgong, it woke up immediately, howling with pain. When the attack was finished, it was still conscious, but definitely on its last legs.

"Rest."

"Quick Attack!" Before the Dewgong could fall asleep and heal once more, Pikachu dashed forward and rammed into it. The simple attack had been enough to knock out the Dewgong and cause it to fall over.

Lorelei returned her unconscious Dewgong with a small smile on her face. "Impressive. Perhaps you've actually got some talent. Let's see how you handle this one!" She said as she held up a Poké Ball and sent out her second Pokémon…

 **X-X-X**

I winced as I watched Charizard take another hit from the Thunder Punch of Bruno's Hitmonchan. It would figure that the Hitmonchan of a Fighting type specialist would know more than Fighting-type moves. It wasn't exactly an attack that did a lot of damage to him, but it still looked pretty brutal to see the Hitmonchan's glove-like hand smash against Charizard's snout.

"Your Charizard is impressive, taking a punch from my Hitmonchan and staying conscious," said the Fighting type specialist in question. Everything about Bruno reminded me of the martial artists at the dojo in Saffron City, except for the fact that he didn't wear a gi or a headband, so his bushy black hair was unrestrained and his muscles were free for the world to see. According to him, he literally trained with his Pokémon in hand-to-hand combat. "Perhaps that's a sign that we need to change things up. Agility!" Bruno's Hitmonchan began hopping from foot to foot as it jabbed the air, its punching speed increasing with every punch. "Now, Comet Punch!" The Hitmonchan quickly closed the distance between itself and Charizard and unleashed a flurry of punches on him so fast that its hands looked like blurs.

"Get up into the air!" I shouted. It took a while for Charizard to pull away from the Hitmonchan's punches so he could fly up towards the ceiling.

"You aren't the first who thought they could evade that way. Uppercut!" Bruno's Hitmonchan crouched before jumping high up into the air with a fist up in the air, spinning as it did. Its uppercut connected with Charizard's snout. "Now grab it!" The Hitmonchan then hooked an arm around Charizard's neck. "Mega Punch!'

"Flamethrower!" Charizard took a hard punch to the face that disoriented him a bit. But he quickly recovered in time to breathe a stream of fire into the Hitmonchan's face. That was enough to get the Punching Pokémon to let go of him. "Seismic Toss!" Before Bruno's Hitmonchan could fall to the ground, Charizard grabbed its shoulders and began to spin around in midair. After a while, he threw it down to the floor, but after lying still for a few seconds, the Hitmonchan got back on its feet.

"Keep going! Mega Uppercut!" Bruno shouted.

"Twister!" As the Hitmonchan jumped up into the air, Charizard flapped his wings and created a twister. The Hitmonchan got caught in the pull of it and was tossed about, getting scratched by blades of wind. "Now, Fire Blast!" Flames built up in the back of Charizard's mouth before he spat a large fireball down at the Hitmonchan. The fireball soon expanded, becoming the familiar five-pronged symbol before it hit the Punching Pokémon, engulfing it in fire. When the twister dispersed and the fire faded away, the Hitmonchan fell to the floor badly burnt and unconscious. "Charizard, way to go!" I cheered as Bruno returned his unconscious Pokémon.

"That's good, but it isn't over yet!" Bruno bellowed before he sent out his third Pokémon…

 **X-X-X**

Snorlax became covered in poisonous-looking dark sludge that had been spat up by Agatha's Arbok. But, to my surprise and relief, he seemed unaffected by the attack. And of course, when things went positively for me, the old woman on the other side of the battlefield stamped her cane on the floor and complained.

"What sort of nonsense is this? It should've been poisoned!" Agatha, the third member of the Elite Four, was said to be a specialist of Ghost type Pokémon, but she also had a Golbat and an Arbok with her. She also seemed to know Professor Oak, although her sour tone when describing him as a bookworm more concerned with studying Pokémon than battling with them suggested she didn't like him. "Use Screech!" Agatha's Arbok opened its mouth and gave an ear-piercing shriek. Snorlax winced at the sound and covered his ears. "Now wrap around its head and bite it!" The Arbok quickly slithered towards Snorlax, climbed up his body, and wrapped around his head. The Cobra Pokémon hissed before chomping on Snorlax's head. Snorlax stumbled about, trying to pull it off.

"Mega Punch!" Snorlax raised a paw and it began to glow pale white. He then punched the coiled up Arbok, causing it to cry out in pain and unwrap itself. "Now grab it and Body Slam it!" Pulling the Arbok off of himself, Snorlax gripped it as tightly as he could.

"Spray acid in its face!" Twisting its body around in Snorlax's hold so it could properly see him, the Arbok spat a bright orange liquid into his face. It stopped him for a few seconds, but it didn't get the large Pokémon to let the Arbok go. In fact, he held it even tighter before jumping forward and landing on his belly, squashing the Arbok beneath him. Snorlax got up, wiping the acid off of his face before looking down at his opponent. The snake Pokémon laid down on the floor, dazed and in no shape to continue fighting. "Feh! You're an awfully lucky boy," Agatha spat as she returned her Arbok into its Poké Ball. "But the child's play ends _here_!" She exclaimed with another tap of her cane as she held out the Poké Ball containing her last Pokémon. "Just don't cry!" She said before sending it out…

 **X-X-X**

"Dragonite, Thunder!" Lance shouted as he raised an arm in the air. He was the last member of the Elite Four, and a master of Dragon type Pokémon and dragon- _like_ Pokémon such as Gyarados and Aerodactyl. And now, he was on his last Pokémon: a powerful Dragonite. Said Dragonite, which had been flying above the battlefield, gave a bellow as electricity crackled around its body. It released a large lightning bolt that was unfortunately accurate enough to strike Lapras, making him scream with pain.

"Lapras, hang in there!" I exclaimed as Lapras seemed ready to fall over. He shook his head as if to clear up his mind, then he narrowed his eyes and got a determined look on his face. "Use Ice Beam!" From his horn, Lapras fired a beam of crackling cold energy with a loud cry. The Dragonite raised its arms to block the attack, but when it made contact, its entire body quickly became covered in ice and it fell to the floor of the battlefield. Even the impact of its landing wasn't enough to break the ice it had been trapped in. "You managed to freeze it…!" I gasped. The chance of an attack freezing a Pokémon was far less than that of an attack causing a burn or paralysis.

"What a way to lose!" Lance complained as he returned the frozen Dragonite back into its ball. "It's gonna take a while for his ego to heal from that one." The redheaded Dragon master stared at me with a stern expression for a few seconds before smiling. "I can't believe my dragons lost to you, Red! Though I guess I shouldn't have underestimated you, knowing what you've managed to accomplish. Now you're the champion of the Pokémon League!" I couldn't stop myself from smiling as Pikachu and Lapras cheered. "Or you _would have been_ if someone else hadn't claimed the title earlier today." I suddenly felt deflated. Pikachu gave an angry shout that I'm sure could pass off as a curse. "If you want to truly complete the Pokémon League challenge…" Lance threw an arm out, causing the cape he wore to flutter dramatically behind him as he pointed at a staircase leading further up into the building, "then you' have one more trainer to overcome: the champion!"

"The champion…!" I whispered to myself as I clenched my fists. I looked at Lance with an apathetic expression and asked, "Can I stick around here and heal up my Pokémon for a little while?"

"Do what you want," the dragon tamer said as he headed towards a door off to the side. "I have to go and heal my own Pokémon."

Once Lance had left us alone, I began to heal Lapras and Pikachu first. "I had wanted to become the champion before anyone else could claim the title…but it seems like someone beat me to it." I sighed as I sprayed a bottle of Full Restore on Lapras's wounds. Pikachu pouted and shook his head as he said something. "Oh, don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm _not_ going to try and at least get into the hall of fame, but…with the position open and no actual replacements for the last champion lined up, it was said that the first person to defeat the Elite Four was going to become the champion of the Indigo League." I sprayed some Full Restore on Pikachu as well. "This is probably for the best, anyway. If being the champion means getting the same treatment I've been getting for helping to end Team Rocket, I think I'd be happier with simply being in the hall of fame." I returned Lapras into his ball and prepared to heal another member of my team. "Well, I suppose one upside is that I've managed to get here before Blue…"

 **X-X-X**

After healing up my Pokémon, I left the room where I had challenged Lance and followed the long red carpet up the stairs to a set of double doors leading into the room where the newest league champion awaited. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Pikachu, who stood beside me, was doing the same thing. We looked at each other and nodded in agreement before I pushed open the doors and we stepped inside. We continued along the red carpet, past the rows of Pokémon statues, up to the battlefield at the end of the room. But we were only a few feet away when we got to see the champion in their entirety.

"Well, well! Look who it is! To think that _you're_ my first conquest as the Pokémon League champion, Red!" It was Blue. Blue was the one standing in the middle of the battlefield, smirking at me in his usual cocky manner. Blue was the champion. It was such a surprise that I found I couldn't speak. Even Pikachu seemed to have been silenced in awe of this surprising news. "What's the matter? So impressed that you can't think of what to say?"

Pikachu had been the first to speak. He gave a loud and shocked cry as he pointed up at Blue. He went on to rant for a little while before he stopped to breathe. Then I found it in me to speak up, "Your sister and grandfather have been worried sick about you. Why didn't you at least call to tell them that you were okay?"

Blue snorted as he folded his arms across his chest. "What? So they could scold me?"

"They thought something bad had happened to you. So did I."

"I didn't need anything to stop me on the road to becoming the Pokémon League champion! Not my family! Not Team Rocket! And sure as heck not _you_!" Blue began to point a thumb against his chest. "I've looked all over for powerful Pokémon and assembled teams that that can beat any type of Pokémon! And now, here I am! The Pokémon League Champion! Compared to _you_ playing the crime fighter, I'm a bigger fish!"

"I don't care, Blue," I answered flatly as Pikachu growled. "If you wanna be more famous than me, fine. If you need that to feel better, go ahead."

"Are you making fun of me?! A second-rate, second place trainer like _you_?!"

I narrowed my eyes and took a step forward. "I'm not second-rate _or_ second place! We're not little kids anymore! You can't boss me around and throw a tantrum whenever I do something better or get more attention somehow!"

"You _are_ , and you always _will_ be! The fact that I became the champion before you did proves it!"

"It doesn't make you unbeatable!" I shouted as I pointed a finger at him. "I'll show you I'm your equal, if not better!"

Blue sneered as we took our places on opposite ends of the battlefield. "As if! I'm now one of the most—no, I'm _the most_ powerful trainer in the world!" He took out a Poké Ball and sent out his Jolteon.

"Pikachu! Go get 'em!" I growled as I pointed at the other Electric type. With a nod, Pikachu ran onto the field. "Use Swift!"

"Pin Missile!" As Pikachu swung his tail and sent a barrage of stars flying at Jolteon, Jolteon's fur bristled and fired dozens of sharp, pin-thin hairs into the air. When the stars hit Jolteon, the pins fell and showered down onto Pikachu, who was unable to dodge. "Quick Attack and Double Kick!" Jolteon dashed forward and charged into Pikachu, then he turned around to kick Pikachu high up into the air.

"Slam!" Before Pikachu could hit the floor, he struck Jolteon with his tail and jumped off of his head in order to land safely. "Swift again!"

"Dig underground!" The Lightning Pokémon managed to dig a hole on his side of the battlefield before he could be hit by the stars that Pikachu fired at him.

"Speed up with Agility," I commanded as I kept an eye on the ground. Pikachu ran about the battlefield, picking up speed as he did. After a while, the ground beneath Pikachu broke apart and Jolteon jumped out of the ground, ramming into his stomach from underneath. Pikachu was sent rolling aside as Jolteon landed on his feet.

"Bite 'em!" Jolteon bared his teeth and ran at Pikachu.

"Use Slam!" Pikachu jumped to his feet and smacked Jolteon in the face with his tail. "Now, Swift!" With another swing of his tail, he fired a ray of stars up in Jolteon's face. After that, Jolteon bit down on Pikachu's tail and tossed him aside.

"Pin Missile!" Another barrage of pins was fired at Pikachu and he was unable to dodge the attack. "Finish it with Quick Attack!"

"Use Quick Attack, too!"

The two Electric type Pokémon began to dart around the battlefield, ramming into each other. It lasted for a minute before both Pikachu and Jolteon rammed into each other headfirst and suddenly collapsed on the floor, unable to keep going. I returned Pikachu to his ball, mumbling my thanks to him for trying so hard. I noticed that Blue was smirking as he returned Jolteon to his Poké Ball and took out another one.

"I'm surprised you started off with Jolteon," I commented.

"Good trainers start off with their weakest Pokémon and build up to their strongest!" Blue insisted.

"So…you're calling Jolteon weak?"

"Well, it's not like he's useless. He tested the waters, and he even managed to knock out that rat of yours! Now I can send out this next Pokémon without any worries!" In a flash of light, a Gyarados appeared on Blue's side of the battlefield. It sat coiled up like a snake and opened its mouth to growl at me.

"In that case…!" I sent out Lapras, who cried out in fear once he laid eyes on Blue's Gyarados.

"A Lapras, huh? You've got the best luck to capture such rare Pokémon, but it looks like a wimp!"

"Looks can be deceiving."

Blue snorted before pointing a finger at Lapras. "Gyarados, Thunder!" The Gyarados uncoiled and began to roar as electricity crackled around it. A ball of electricity formed in the back of its mouth, and when it roared, several large bolts of electricity were fired at Lapras. But luckily, the chaotic attack missed him, only striking the ground in front of him.

"Sing!" Lapras sang in a sorrowful tone. The Gyarados's angry-looking eyes slowly drooped until they completely closed and it fell over, fast asleep. "Thunderbolt!" Electricity then crackled around his horn before a bolt of lightning raced forward and struck the sleeping Gyarados. But the shock of the attack seemed to cause it to wake up and regain its typical terrifying expression.

"That's more like it! Hit it with a Hyper Beam!"

"Ice Beam!"

Gold-colored energy began to form into the back of the Gyarados's mouth and cold energy crackled around Lapras's horn. Blue's Pokémon was the first to launch an attack and succeeded in blasting back the smaller Pokémon with the force of its Hyper Beam. But despite how powerful the attack was, Lapras remained conscious and fired a beam of cold energy into his opponents' face, covering it with a thin layer of frost in the process. The Gyarados hadn't even tried to dodge because its last attack had tired it out so much.

"While it's exhausted, use Thunderbolt again!" Once more, Lapras fired a bolt of electricity that hit the Gyarados dead on. The Atrocious Pokémon gave on last roar before fainting and falling over, the impact causing the floor to shake.

Blue seemed frustrated as he called back his unconscious Gyarados. "Don't let this get to your head, you faulty trainer!"

"This faulty trainer's already managed to beat two of your Pokémon," I spoke in a monotone voice.

"A double-KO doesn't count as your victory! And I'm about to even the score right now!" Blue exclaimed as he sent out his next Pokémon. Like an idiot, I had been expecting Blue to be using the same team he had when we last met, even though I had made some new additions to mine in that time. So when he sent out an Aerodactyl…I was a little surprised for several reasons. "Make a twister!" The Aerodactyl screeched before it began to flap its wings rapidly. The winds generated from its flapping came together to form a large twister with Lapras in the center. Its wind was powerful enough to pick him up and spin him around while cutting into him at the same time. When the wind dispersed, Lapras dropped to the floor. It was either the attack or the fall that knocked him out, but regardless of the cause, the Transport Pokémon was in no shape to fight anymore. "How do you like that? Aerodactyl managed to learn that from Pidgeot!"

"So I see…" I said as I returned Lapras to his ball. "So I guess it took Pidgeot's place, huh?"

"He does better work than Pidgeot. Certain kinds of Pokémon are just better than others. That's one of the first things you learn about Pokémon training, you second-rate trainer!" Blue said with a smirk as he folded his arms across his chest.

"And all Pokémon can be trained to overcome their weaknesses if their trainer is willing to take the time. That's another thing about Pokémon training, you first-rate jerk," I said with a straight face. Blue's response was just to laugh in a taunting manner. Without saying another word, I sent out Charizard.

"I see your freaky Pokémon have gotten _even_ _more_ freakish since last time," said Blue. "Aerodactyl, Supersonic!" The Aerodactyl shrieked in a loud, high-pitched voice. The sound had been bad enough to cause Charizard to hold his head in pain. When the screeching stopped, he continued clutching his head and seemed disoriented as he swayed back and forth. "Now, use Wing Attack!" With another shriek, the Aerodactyl swooped down and struck Charizard in the throat with one of its wings, knocking him down in the process.

"Get up there and use Seismic Toss!" Fortunately, Charizard made sense of what I had said. After getting on his feet and snarling, he took to the air and grabbed hold of one of the Aerodactyl's feet. Before it could kick him off, Charizard then began to swing the Fossil Pokémon around in midair. "Throw it up against the ceiling!" After a few more spins, Charizard threw the Aerodactyl up to the ceiling, the impact not even causing a crack in it. As it began to fall, I shouted, "Use Dragon Rage!"

"Ha! Hyper Beam!" As blue flames built up in Charizard's mouth, the Aerodactyl recovered in midair and flew over his head. It opened its mouth and fired a large, golden-colored beam of energy down at Charizard, the force of which completely overtook the flames of his Dragon Rage and sent him flying down to the floor. Blue's Aerodactyl slowly descended until it landed a few feet away from Charizard, too exhausted from its last attack to fight back for a little while. "Darn it! I was hoping that would be able to knock it out!"

Charizard got to his feet, growling. He still seemed to be in a bit of a daze. "Trap it using Fire Spin!" Flames built up in the back of Charizard's mouth as he swayed back and forth. He fired a stream of spiraling flame that sped towards the Aerodactyl and flew right over its head, hitting the wall behind Blue instead. "Shoot! Try again!" Because of Aerodactyl's typing, only so many of Charizard's attacks could cause serious damage.

"Use Sky Attack!" Blue's Aerodactyl began to glow with a harsh light that resembled fire. Charizard breathed out another stream of spiraling flame, but this time, the attack hit and trapped the Aerodactyl in a pillar of fire. But seconds later, it burst through the pillar, flying towards Charizard, the aura surrounding it now resembling a great flaming bird. It rammed into Charizard, sending him flying backwards, but he recovered in midair. "Now, grab it with Bite!" With a screech, the Aerodactyl flew towards Charizard, opening its mouth wide in preparation.

"Grab it and use Seismic Toss!" After the Aerodactyl came close enough, Charizard moved to the side to avoid being bitten and grabbed one of the Fossil Pokémon's wings before spinning around a few times and slamming it into the floor. Then, without my command, he breathed out a stream of something that I could only describe as purplish-pink gas, because it didn't move in the way that fire did. But when the attack made contact, I could've confused it with fire because of the way it crackled and left scorch marks on Blue's Pokémon.

"What the heck kind of move was _that_?! Don't go whipping out strange attacks on me!" Blue complained. Then he switched his attention from me to his Pokémon. "Hey! Get up already! It couldn't have hurt _that_ much!" Aerodactyl made a pitiful-sounding screech as it got back on its feet slowly. It had given Charizard enough time to fly a safe distance away from any possible close-ranged attacks. "That's more like it! Now, show 'em what makes you special!" The Aerodactyl screeched and began to glow with a bright purple energy that came off of it in wisps. The wisps then changed into rocks that were suddenly launched in Charizard's direction. He only managed to dodge a few before he was struck in the gut by one and unable to avoid the rest of the barrage.

"Typical. He complains about my Pokémon using strange moves and then has _his_ do _that_ …" I muttered. The attack seemed to have hurt Charizard quite a bit, though not enough to knock him out, so it may have been a Rock type move.

"Do it again, Aerodactyl!" The Aerodactyl screeched again, but as its body began to glow with the same energy, it suddenly flinched and stopped its attack. "What're you doin'?! Now's not the time to slack off! Hm?" Blue arched an eyebrow and stared at his Aerodactyl for a few seconds before exclaiming, "What the—?! When did you get paralyzed?!"

"Paralyzed?" Could it have been that last attack of Charizard's that paralyzed it? "Charizard, use…that attack you just used!" With a confused noise, Charizard took a deep breath before breathing out more of that purplish substance. The attack hit the paralyzed Aerodactyl, burning it up even more.

"Snap out of it and attack already!" Aerodactyl attempted to attack again and became paralyzed once more. "For the love of…!"

"Finish it with Seismic Toss!" Charizard charged forward, grabbed the Aerodactyl by the snout, spun around, and finally threw it down to the floor. After a few seconds on the ground, the Fossil Pokémon didn't move, but it twitched and screeched to show that it was still conscious.

"C'mon! Get up!" Blue commanded, ignoring his Pokémon's injuries. Obediently, the Aerodactyl got back up, but it soon collapsed again. "Stop acting like a wimp and knock out that overgrown lizard!"

I stared in silence for a few seconds before giving my opinion. "It's unable to keep fighting."

But Blue wasn't having it. "Shut up! Mind your own Pokémon!" As he said this, his Aerodactyl got back onto its feet.

"Fine. Charizard, knock it out with a gentle blow." Charizard grunted in confusion before looking at the exhausted Aerodactyl. He raised his clawed hand and slashed it across the face, knocking the Fossil Pokémon down. "Well, that's as gentle as you can get, I suppose." Blue returned the Aerodactyl to its Poké Ball, muttering under his breath. "So, do you have any regrets about replacing Pidgeot?"

"It's none of your business what Pokémon I deem worthy of being on my team."

"Is that right? So the very first Pokémon you caught yourself is unworthy?"

Blue folded his arms across his chest. "Some Pokémon are just inferior to others. That's one of the first things you learn about Pokémon training."

"And some Pokémon can overcome their weaknesses if their trainers are dedicated. That's another thing about Pokémon training," I spoke sternly.

"Well, just like you, some people can't become any better than they are. Lemme show ya!" Blue shouted as he sent out his next Pokémon. It took me a while to realize that it was a Machamp because of its appearance: its skin was gray; its hands, which had sharpened nails at the end of them, were black; the protrusions on its head resembled a set of three short horns; and it seemed to have a set of large scars on its chest that resembled claw marks.

"Blue… Is this one of the Pokémon that used to be experimented on by Team Rocket?" I asked as I took in the Machmp's intimidating appearance.

"Some nerd traded it to me as a Machoke in exchange for a Haunter I had. It turned out to be more useful than I thought."

"So which of your Pokémon did you replace with it?"

Blue's cocky expression shifted to one of annoyance. "Will you _shut up_ about that?! Machamp, Mega Punch!"

"Grab it as soon as it attacks and use Seismic Toss!"

Blue's Machamp ran towards Charizard, who had ground his feet in the floor and held his arms out in front of him, with its arms poised to throw punches. But when it was almost within punching range, Blue shouted, "Psych!" and that somehow was the signal for the Machamp to suddenly disappear and reappear behind Charizard, where it landed a punch to the back of his head. "Now grab it and show it a real Seismic Toss!" Blue hadn't even finished his sentence when the Machamp grabbed hold of Charizard's horns with one pair of arms and grabbed his arms with the other pair. It then spun around with him in its grasp before releasing him, sending Charizard flying into a wall. Charizard fell to the ground, groaning and in no shape to keep fighting.

I sighed before calling back Charizard. "You did your best. Way to go." I sent out Venusaur next since both Blastoise and Snorlax were weak against Fighting type moves. Professor Oak said that while he was still capable of using Poison type attacks, he didn't seem to have the poisonous qualities he had in his last two forms, so he wouldn't exactly be resilient against any Fighting type moves that Machamp would throw at him, but it was better than nothing. "Venusaur, Poison Gas!" Venusaur roared as the large flower shook and released a cloud of purple gas that surrounded Blue's Machamp. "Now Leech Seed!"

"Fire Blast!" Blue shouted. His Machamp reared its head back for a few seconds as it closed its mouth, ignoring the seeds that landed on its torso and wrapped around its lower pair of arms. With a roar, the Superpower Pokémon breathed out a large ball of fire that expanded into a five-pronged symbol. Unable to move quickly enough to dodge, Venusaur could only take the attack. He cried out in pain, but it didn't seem to do terrible damage. It made sense, considering Machamp was a Pokémon more suited for physical attacks and this particular one was probably not a Fire type. "Now, get it with a Headbutt!" The Machamp easily broke free of the stamina-leeching vines, although they still hung off of its body. It then charged into Venusaur headfirst, headbutting him.

"Sweep it off its feet with Vine Whip!" Several vines snaked out from underneath Venusaur's leaves and slammed against the Machamp's ankles, making it fall over. "Now grab it and toss it in the air!" The same vines wrapped around the Machamp's and with ease, Venusaur threw the Fighting type up above him. "Petal Dance!" Then he unleashed a barrage of flower petals up in the air that, upon hitting the Machamp, exploded and showered petals over the battlefield.

"Give 'em the sledgehammer!" In midair, the Machamp cupped the hands of its upper arms together before it fell towards Venusaur. With a downward swing, it struck Venusaur in the back before jumping off and landing several feet away. "Now hit it with a sneak attack!" Just like before, the Superpower Pokémon ran towards Venusaur, but disappeared when it had gotten close enough and reappeared beside him to land a jab.

Venusaur retaliated by blasting the Machamp with another flurry of flower petals, forcing it away from him. "Keep it up! You're wearing it down!" All I could do was cheer since the Petal Dance would go on for a while. With a roar, Venusaur unleashed a final petal barrage.

"Fire Blast!" But the Machamp spat out a fireball that burned away the petals on its way to Venusaur. The fireball expanded into a five-pronged symbol that exploded upon hitting Venusaur. "Now give 'em a Mega Punch!" Blue's Pokémon quickly dashed forward and used Mega Punch to strike Venusaur across the face. "Low Kick!" Then it kicked his forelegs out from underneath him, causing Venusaur to fall. "Now finish it with a barrage!" Almost immediately, the Machamp began to use all of its hands to deliver a flurry of punches too fast for me to count. The final blow managed to be enough to send Venusaur skidding back a few feet. "How was that?!"

"Venusaur! Are you okay?" Venusaur got up, looking a tad disoriented and beaten up, but still conscious. As I was about to give another command, Venusaur stomped a foot as the flower on his back began to shudder. The flower suddenly spat out a glob thick, golden liquid that covered the Machamp. After a few seconds, the substance began to glow and Blue's Machamp cried out in pain. Venusaur also began to glow with a faint golden light before the visible bruises on his body faded away. "You, too, huh?"

"Darn it, Machamp! Get up!" Blue snapped as his Machamp fell to its knees, wearing a pained expression. Whatever Venusaur did, it was painful enough to cause the Superpower Pokémon to falter. I noticed the vines that grew from the Leech Seed still hanging off of its body and the look of sickness on its face. Blue's Machamp may have been a fine physical specimen of a Pokémon, but no one could endure having their stamina constantly drained while taking blows. The Machamp stood upright, but it was obviously on its last legs. "Alright, I've had enough! Give it a 1000-hit combo!" Despite being severely injured, the Machamp dashed forward.

"Stop it with Perfume!" A thick cloud with a sweet scent wafted out from Venusaur's flower and gathered up in between him and the charging Machamp. As expected, it tried to dash through on its way to punching Venusaur, but when it came out on the other side, the Superpower Pokémon was in a blissful daze, causing it to stop in its tracks. "Now, use that attack once more!" Again, a glob of golden liquid was shot out of Venusaur's flower and hit the Machamp's chest with enough force to make it fall back. It didn't seem capable of fighting anymore, either because it was exhausted, unconscious, or content with lying on the floor.

"This…is… _ridiculous_!" Blue snapped as he returned the Machamp into its ball. "I'm really starting to lose my patience with you!"

"Just admit that I'm as good of a trainer as you are," I continued insisting.

"You're _not_ as good as I am! At best, you'll always be #2! So just accept it!"

"You're the one who isn't accepting anything!"

Blue said nothing more as he sent out his fifth Pokémon. It was a Rhydon, but like Blue's Machamp, it looked different from a typical member of its species. Its thick, gray hide didn't look like it was made from a rock-like substance, but scales like those of Charizard. Its horn didn't resemble a drill, but still looked sharp and dangerous, and its tail ended with a bladed tip. Obviously another Pokémon that had been experimented on. I would've asked where Blue got it from, but I knew from the expression on his face that he refused to continue talking.

"Rhydon, dig underground!" Using a combination of its hands and horn, the Rhydon dug a hole and burrowed under the arena. "Surface with Horn Attack!" Seconds after the command was given, the horned Pokémon burst out from the ground beneath Venusaur. Throwing back its head, the scaly Pokémon tossed Venusaur behind it. He landed on his stomach, but the attack obviously did some damage. "Now, use Flamethrower!" While still in the hole, Blue's Rhydon breathed out a stream of fire that covered Venusaur in flames.

"Relax! Heal yourself with that attack!"

"Not a chance! Underground now!"

Before Venusaur could cover it in more of that golden nectar, the Rhydon disappeared underground once more. I sucked my teeth in annoyance. There was no way Venusaur could move quickly enough to avoid an attack, and his means of healing himself were. I was forced to wait until the horned Pokemon emerged once more beneath Venusaur to toss him aside, this time bothering to use its arms. "Pull it out with Vine Whip!" While still on the ground, vines snaked out from underneath the flower and raced towards the Rhydon, wrapping around its head before pulling it out of the ground. "Now, use Razor Leaf!" A flurry of leaves were then sent flying at the Rhydon from beneath Venusaur's foliage. The attack hit, but Blue's Pokémon didn't make it flinch or cry out in pain like I was expecting it to.

"Kick it up a notch! Fire Blast!" Blue's Rhydon roared and breathed out a large ball of fire that expanded into a five-pronged symbol. Venusaur took the attack head on and became consumed in flames. As the flames faded away, it seemed like he had managed to endure the attack. But after a few seconds, his legs buckled and he collapsed, giving a pitiful moan.

I returned Venusaur to his ball. "Thank you. You really came through." I put it away and was about to grab Blastoise's ball when I changed my mind. I found myself sending out Snorlax instead. To my relief, he was wide awake and ready to battle.

"A _Snorlax_? Geez, do you wanna be eaten out of house and home?" Blue joked. "Rhydon, knock it over with Earthquake!" His Rhydon raised a foot and stomped on the floor, causing it to shake violently. Snorlax was hit by a shockwave, but he remained standing. When the attack was over, Snorlax drummed his stomach, as if trying to taunt Blue's Pokémon.

"Snorlax, use Surf!" Snorlax jumped up as high as he could, and when he landed, he created a large wave that raced towards the Rhydon. The force of the attack was enough to push the horned Pokémon back. "Mega Punch!" As fast as he could—without the promise of food—Snorlax ran towards the Rhydon with a raised paw that glowed bright white.

"Slash!" When Snorlax was close enough, the Rhydon raked its claws along his belly. He was unfazed by the attack, though, and managed to punch it in the head with enough force to send it tumbling over to the sidelines. "Get up! Don't let some fatty beat you up!"

"Interesting… It didn't take that Mega Punch well, so did it lose its Rock typing for something else?" I mumbled to myself as Snorlax scratched his stomach. "If so, that's good for us. Snorlax! Mega Kick!"

"No! Use Fire Blast!"

Snorlax ran towards the Rhydon just as it was getting back on its feet. The horned Pokémon took a breathed and spat out another fireball that transformed into a five-pronged symbol just as Snorlax performed a flying kick. Snorlax flew through the flames, getting burned in the process, before he landed a kick in the Rhydon's face that was strong enough to send it flying back into a wall. After it fell to the floor, the Rhydon groaned and twitched before it stopped doing both.

I wondered which of his Pokémon Blue had replaced with that Rhydon, where he got it from, and how long he actually trained it for. As he returned it into its Poké Ball, Blue looked frustrated and on the brink of screaming curses. "You're down to your last Pokémon. Now will you admit that I'm no longer your inferior?"

Blue suddenly looked up at me with a dark look in his eyes, his hands and teeth clenched in anger. " _Shut up_ , you loser! You've done it now! The best has been saved for last!" He sent out his Alakazam—at last, a familiar face. "Use your telekinesis to hold it in midair!" The Alakazam held out one of its spoons and it bent forward at a 90 degree angle. Suddenly, Snorlax rose up from the floor due to an unseen force. "Psychic!" Then he got hit by an unseen force of psychic energy that pushed him back a bit. "Again!"

"Snorlax, Hyper Beam!" After another psychic attack hit him, Snorlax opened his mouth wide. After a few seconds, he roared and fired a beam of golden energy at Blue's Alakazam.

"Teleport!" But before the attack could hit, the Alakazam disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared behind Snorlax. Blue almost got hit by the stray Hyper Beam, but he didn't seem concerned about his wellbeing at this point. "Attack it again!" The Alakazam's eyes suddenly gained a sharp look before it shouted, its spoons bending forward once more. Snorlax was hit by a powerful burst of psychic energy that had been enough to make him fall on the floor on his back.

"Use Surf!" I waited for a reaction until I heard the sound of loud snoring. Apparently, Snorlax had fallen asleep. It may have been because he was too weak to keep fighting or because he was just lazy, but unless he woke up, he was out of the battle. I sighed and returned Snorlax to his ball, ignoring the insulting laughter coming out of Blue's mouth before I sent out Blastoise.

"This troublesome thing again… Alakazam, hold it in place and start hitting it with Psychic!" Just like Snorlax, Blastoise was lifted off of the floor.

"Use Hydro Pump!" The cannon on Blastoise's back extended before firing a stream of water at the Alakazam.

"Teleport!" Once again, the Psi Pokémon vanished, evading the attack, and appeared on another side of the battlefield, where it unleashed a burst of psychic energy that hit Blastoise. Of course, the attack did no good—Psychic type attacks weren't very effective against Blastoise. Blue should've remembered that from the times that we battled. So I found it strange that his strategy was simply to rely on Alakazam's psychic power and nothing else. Enduring the attacks wouldn't be difficult for Blastoise to do, but the issue was Alakazam constantly dodging.

"Blastoise, try Ice Beam!" A beam of cold, crackling energy was fired from the Shellfish Pokémon's cannon. Once again, the Alakazam dodged by teleporting. "It can only dodge for so long! Keep firing at it and you're sure to hit it!" Blastoise gave a positive-sounding shout before his cannon cocked, ignoring the impact of another Psychic attack. After a few seconds, a steel ball roughly the size of a basketball was fired out of the cannon, followed by another shot. I watched as Blastoise fired steel balls in various directions, trying to hit the Alakazam as it teleported all over the battlefield. Eventually, it began to look like Blastoise was just firing in random places and he happened to luck out, a steel ball hitting the Alakazam in the face just as it appeared in a spot. The force of that sudden surprise had been enough to make the Psychic type fall over. At the same time, Blastoise was freed from the psychic hold and allowed to stand on the floor again.

"NO! Get up! GET UP!" Blue shouted as his Pokémon held onto its head. "Use Recover!"

"Don't give it a chance! Ice Beam!" As Blue's Alakazam began to glow, its injury slowly healing, Blastoise fired a beam of cold energy that hit the Psychic type Pokémon dead on. The glowing ceased as its body became covered in a thin layer of frost. "Hydro Pump!"

"Teleport!" Blue's Alakazam was unable to dodge the large blast of water that had been shot at it. Still lying down, Blastoise's attack washed it across the floor. "Do _something_! Use Psychic!"

"Finish it off!" Blastoise roared as he fired a large ball of water up into the air. It quickly fell and landed on top of Blue's Alakazam, causing an explosion of water.

"Alakazam, recover!" No response. Blue's Pokémon was sprawled out on the floor, obviously unconscious. "You can't lose! You're my strongest Pokémon! So get up already!"

"Face it, Blue: I've won," I said as Blastoise cheered. "Just accept it. It's not the end of the world just because you lost."

"I… It can't be…! I refuse to believe that you beat me!" Before I could scold Blue for being childish, something popped out of one of the Poké Bals that he hung from his waist. It was Jolteon—now conscious, but still beaten up pretty badly. He looked at Blastoise and growled, electricity crackling around his body. "Jolteon? What the heck do you think you're doing?"

"I guess he wasn't knocked out like I thought," I said. Just then, Pikachu popped out of his Poké Ball in a similar state and stood in front of me. "Pikachu?! You—!" Pikachu interrupted me, his calm tone being the total opposite of the furious look in his eyes. He pointed over at Blue and Jolteon, and I understood what he was trying to say. "Alright… Blastoise, come back." Ignoring Blastoise's sound of surprise as I returned him to his ball, Pikachu walked onto the battlefield.

"…Fine. If you wanna go down in a blaze of glory, knock yourself out!" Blue pointed forward. "Hit it with Quick Attack!"

"Quick Attack!"

At the same time, Pikachu and Jolteon dashed towards each other and rammed their heads together. But unlike at the beginning of the battle, they did it over and over again, the only change being what part of the battlefield they decided to clash upon. With a cry, Pikachu's body began to crackle with electricity before he became enveloped in a golden glow and he crashed into Blue's Jolteon one last time. The force of his tackle had been enough to cause Joleteon to roll back over to Blue's feet. Jolteon's growls quickly became whimpers of pain as Pikachu stood on his hind legs and cheered weakly.

I gave a sigh and adjusted my hat before walking over to Pikachu. He gave me a weak smile and I couldn't help smiling back as I scooped him up into my arms. "You did really good, Pikachu. You really are my ace." I looked at Blue, who was staring down at Jolteon with a blank expression. I approached him cautiously, unsure how he would react to his loss.

"…Why?" Blue mumbled as he returned Jolteon to his ball. "Why did I lose? I made no mistakes. I caught strong Pokémon. Raised them to be the strongest. And I lost. To a second-rate trainer like _you_."

"Poppycock! There is _nothing_ second-rate about him!" A familiar voice exclaimed. I turned around to see, of all people, Blue's sister Daisy standing behind me. And behind _her_ was Professor Oak. "Grow up, Blue! Just because you lost, it doesn't give you the right to be a sore loser and insult Red!"

I stared at the Oaks in confusion. "What…are you two doing here?" I asked slowly.

"We received a call that Blue became the Pokémon League Champion, so we rushed over to congratulate him," the professor explained. "But we came just in time to see that climactic ending!" He looked down at Pikachu before continuing, "You've come a long way since you left Pallet Town with Pikachu. You've grown not only as a trainer, but as a person as well." Professor Oak then looked at Blue, who was busy glaring at the ground. "I was hoping the same would happen to you, Blue. But somewhere along the line, you became obsessed with being the center of attention. You forgot to treat your Pokémon with love and trust, so they stopped being your partners—your friends and became a means to an end. But despite all of that, Jolteon was still willing to fight for you to the bitter end. Until you can learn to reciprocate those feelings and learn that your victories are not solely yours, you will _never_ be a truly great trainer, let alone a Pokémon League Champion!"

I expected Blue to talk back to his grandfather, or to shout or scream. But instead, he ran out of the room, seemingly on the brink of tears. Daisy glanced at the professor before chasing after her brother, leaving me and Pikachu alone with Professor Oak. "That was…quite harsh, wasn't it?" I asked him.

The professor cleared his throat. "Maybe. But it had to be done. That boy shattered his bond with his Pokémon for the sake of being considered special by others."

"He cared for them once, though."

"I know."

"…It's my fault," I mumbled, looking down at Pikachu, whom I just noticed had fallen asleep in my arms. "Blue started changing his attitude because of my meddling with Team Rocket and getting famous for it."

"Don't blame yourself. If it's anyone's fault, it's my own. As his grandfather…" Professor Oak trailed off and stared in the direction that Blue had run off in. He then looked at me, smiling in a way that seemed a bit forced. "Anyway, you've beaten the Pokémon League! That means you get to be entered into the Hall of Fame! Follow me." I walked behind the professor through some doors near the battlefield, into a large room that had various pictures decorating the walls. They were all photos of people with at least six Pokémon. "These are the trainers who managed to defeat the Indigo League and become Pokémon League Champions—and their Pokémon as well. And here," the professor gestured over to an advanced-looking computer at the far end of the room, "is the device that makes it all official."

"…How do you know all of this?"

"What? You didn't think I dedicated my life to solely studying Pokémon, did you? Now, let's get you all into the Hall of Fame!"

I said nothing as I approached the computer. I noticed the tray beneath its keyboard with six sphere-shaped indentations, just right for Poké Balls. One by one, I placed the Poké Balls in the tray, returning Pikachu to his ball and placing it last. Professor Oak pressed a button, and I watched as on the screen above the keyboard, images and information about my Pokémon popped up one at a time. And finally, I saw the digitized picture of myself on my trainer ID. That screen managed to make me forget about possibly crushing Blue's dreams and helped push the thought of Mewtwo to the back of my mind. For now, I wanted to bask in the glory of the victory that me and my friends had managed to achieve.

 **X-X-X**

 **Lapras** **: Water/Ice type; level 63**

 **Snorlax** **: Normal type; level 65**

 **Blastoise** **: Water/Steel type; level 66**

 **Venusaur** **: Grass/Fairy type; level 66**

 **Charizard** **: Fire/Dragon type; level 66**

 **Pikachu** **: Electric type; Level 68**

 **Pokédex:** **Pokémon Seen: 147; Pokémon Owned: 18.**

 **Congratulations, League Champion Red!**

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **Though Rhydon appears on Blue's team in both the original and the remakes when he's the Champion, it isn't it Yellow (and strangely replaced by Sandslash). Machamp and Aerodactyl do not appear on Blue's Team in the Gen 1 games and their remakes, but do for HGSS (Machamp only), BW2, and SM.**

 **Not said in the story, but Blue's Machamp is Fighting/Dark while his Rhydon is Ground/Dragon.**

 **Dewgong learns Blizzard via TM. Dragonite learns Thunder via TM. Gyarados learns Thunder and Fire Blast via TM. Lapras learns Thunderbolt via TM. Aerodactyl learns Twister via Move Tutor and Sky Attack via TM. Charizard learns Dragon Breath via TM. Machamp learns Fire Blast via TM, and Headbutt and Mega Punch by TM and Move Tutor. Rhydon learns Fire Blast and Dig via TM, and Seismic Toss via TM and Move Tutor. Blastoise learns Ice Beam via TM, and via Move Tutor in Crystal only.**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu...and Mew, too.  
**


	22. Chapter 22 - Mewtwo Strikes Back

**Behold the penultimate chapter of Pokémon Volt Yellow! For the last chapter, we're heading to Johto! …Or at least somewhere on the border of Johto.**

 _Disclaimer: The Pokémon series doesn't belong to Blu Rose._

 **X-X-X**

 _Chapter 22: Mewtwo Strikes Back_

I blinked my eyes open and soon regretted it, because I was facing the window as the sun shined through it. "What a way to start a morning," I muttered as I stood up. The lump on the bed hidden under the sheets didn't stir. I took a deep breath before jumping on the bed. "Wake up! Wake up!" I stopped when I heard groaning and the sheets began to move.

Red sat up and yawned before wincing at the sun that hit his face. When he got used to the light, he looked down at me and said, "Good morning, Pikachu. I was hoping to sleep in on Sunday, of all days…"

"You don't get to sleep in late just because you've got time off," I said as Red picked me up and got out of bed. Until a few days ago, I hadn't noticed how the distance between me and the ground had increased whenever Red carried me now. It made his physical growth seem subtle. It made the passage of _time_ seem subtle.

After Red headed downstairs, the first thing he did was call out, "Good morning," to his mother in the kitchen.

"Morning. Breakfast will be ready in a second," the voice of Red's mom came from the kitchen.

Red sat down at the table, placing me on top of it, before we looked at what had been playing on the television. Unfortunately, Red's mom had been listening to the news.

" _In other news, the Kanto side of the Indigo League has been going through rough times. Almost two years ago, the League was shaken up when it was revealed that one of the Kanto-based gym leaders, Giovanni Rossi, was actually the leader of the infamous criminal group known as Team Rocket. Although Rossi has been on the run for years, a replacement has yet to be chosen for him, meaning that trainers taking the League challenge in Kanto have yet to complete it. Now, it seems that the Johto side of the Indigo League will also be affected, as three members of the Elite Four resigned from their positions this year. Until replacements have been chosen for them, trainers will be unable to challenge the Elite Four and the current reigning champion, Red Ketchum."_

"How long is that going to take, exactly?" Red's mom asked as she left the kitchen, carrying a pair of plates. "Replacing three members of the Elite Four?" She placed a plate in front of each of us, and I eagerly grabbed a Sitrus berry to eat. "Why would they even leave in the first place?"

"I'm not exactly part of the choosing process," Red said before popping a sausage in his mouth. "But…Lorelei left because she wanted to be close to her family in the Sevii Islands. Agatha said she was _'getting sick of weak, overconfident brats,'_ which I think was her way of saying she wanted to retire. And Lance wants to challenge me and become the champion himself, so he left to train his Pokémon to take me on."

"It concerns me a little that you don't seem affected by that last reason."

Red shrugged. "Actually, I'm excited. Because of the situation with the Kanto half of the Indigo League, I've mostly been receiving challenges from trainers from Johto—the ones who made it past the Elite Four, anyway. And no one's managed to beat me yet. I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Red's mother smiled. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way. I've always worried that the reason why you decided to become the champion was because you felt you had to. But if you genuinely enjoy the role, I'm happy you're happy." She then went back into the kitchen to get more things done.

I looked at Red and took in his expression. The moment his mother left, his face went from being blank to looking saddened. "Don't think about that guy. You're only going to make yourself sad."

How Red became the current Pokémon League Champion wasn't exactly a happy thing. According to Red, losing to a challenger didn't mean that the champion lost his title to them—it just meant that they might become the champion themselves in the future. It was because Blue, upset over having lost to Red, gave up his title and said Red was his replacement. I still remember how they went back and forth. Red kept saying that he didn't want to be champion and that Blue shouldn't throw it away over a single loss, while Blue snapped at him, asking if he got his kicks from crushing people's dreams and then treating them like garbage. I think that's what made Red accept the title: guilt. If he turned down the title that Blue obviously longed for, it would be like rubbing salt in the wound he created after beating him.

The second his mother came out of the kitchen again, Red's expression went back to being neutral and he continued eating. "By the way, just how do you intend to spend your vacation?"

"I don't know. I might help Professor Oak."

"Oh, he actually sent Blue off somewhere to help with his research. The Sevii Islands I think Daisy said."

Red paused for a moment. "…Is that so?"

"I think it's good that Blue's started to be active again. You can only mope about for so long. Some time away from Kanto may help him get his head together."

"I hope so…"

" _Breaking news! Cinnabar Island has experienced a volcanic eruption!"_ The reporter on TV spoke. _"As we speak, Cinnabar Volcano, long thought to have been inactive, erupted almost an hour ago. The inhabitants are in a panic, trying to flee from the island and head for the safety of the mainland. On the scene, we have our eye in the sky, Erin Lewis. Erin?"_

"Oh, my…!" Red's mother gasped as the image on the TV switched to an overhead view of a Cinnabar Island from high in the sky. The people and Pokémon down below looked like dots of various colors, crowds of them going towards the coast to escape the bright red stuff that oozed down the volcano. The Pokémon gym that stood by it had already become engulfed in flames.

" _Thanks, Sara! It would appear that the people of Cinnabar are resorting to all possible means of escape: by boat or by Pokémon; by water or by air! Some individuals are helping others escape with the aid of their Pokémon, and some are even resorting to swimming through the sea under their own power to escape the fury of Cinnabar Volcano! Truly, Mother Nature can be terrify—! …What the heck is that? Hey, get a look at that over the volcano."_ The view switched from the islanders below to the erupting volcano. Amongst the smoke and the cinders, a white figure floated above the mouth of the volcano. _"Is that…a Pokémon? Could it be some sort of ancient creature awoken by the eruption? Or is it—?"_ The white figure glowed bright blue before a shockwave of sorts raced towards the camera. The man who had been speaking cried out in pain while some unidentified bird Pokémon squawked in a similar manner, then the image became replaced by white static.

Back in the newsroom, the lady news reporter looked stunned. _"Erin?! Erin, come in! Say something!"_ After a few seconds, she stared at the camera, looking frightened. "We… I… …We'll return to that story when we've regained contact with Erin. For now…I guess we'll move on…" She cleared her throat. "Today marks the opening of the Magnet Train…"

"I can't believe it…" Red's mother spoke as she shivered. "Those poor people…! Losing their homes like _that_? It seems so wrong… I hope everyone will be okay."

Red was speechless. He continued to stare at the television, but I know he wasn't paying attention to what the reporter was saying. That thing Mr. Eye in the Sky saw may have been Mewtwo. And if it _was_ Mewtwo…was it possible that _he_ started the eruption? If so, why?

"I should go and help," Red mumbled as he stood from the table.

"WHAT?! No! No, no, no! This isn't a bunch of thugs, it's an erupting volcano! Are you trying to send me to an early grave?!" Red's mom cried, looking ready to start crying.

"But people are in serious trouble, and since Pallet Town is closest to Cinnabar Island, the islanders are likely going to come this way to escape the eruption." Red closed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't have time to ask your permission. Please understand. Pikachu, c'mon."

I jumped onto Red's shoulders before he rushed upstairs. "Uh, I hope you're at least gonna change into something _appropriate_ before you leave the house…"

 **X-X-X**

Later that evening, I laid down on one of the cushions of the couch, having finished watching a soap opera with Red's mom. When the news began to play, she got up and headed into the kitchen, saying, "Please turn up the volume for me, Pikachu."

"Okay," I said as I grabbed the remote and pushed one of the buttons whose uses I had memorized.

" _Good evening, I'm Maxwell Harding with the evening news. Catastrophe struck across Kanto today. This morning, the volcano of Cinnabar Island erupted, destroying all traces of both humans and Pokémon residing there."_ As images of the destroyed Cinnabar Island flashed across the screen, my heart ached. I felt the couch shift when Red sat down next to me, with his hair wet and his body smelling like soap. _"Fortunately, thanks to the actions of not only local Cinnabar Islanders, but people residing on the mainland, casualties were avoided. Then, later in the day, the building that once served as the local gym in Viridian City was suddenly destroyed. Fortunately, the gym is out of service, so no one was harmed in the process. Eye witnesses claimed to have spotted a white figure flying away from the wreckage who may or may not have been responsible. Finally, mere hours ago, the Rocket Game Corner, a casino revealed to have been run by Team Rocket over a year ago, was also destroyed with a white figured spotted fleeing the scene of the crime. Could these actions have something to do with Team Rocket? The national police seem to think so, believing that Team Rocket leader Giovanni Russo, who is still at large, may be responsible and is committing acts of terrorism against the Kanto region. In other news, the research of Professor Daniel Elm has created a new craze amongst trainers in all regions to begin breeding Pokémon—something once done only to keep the sparse populations of rare species from going extinct..."_

"This is bad," Red spoke as images of people handling Pokémon and eggs appeared onscreen. "After all this time, Mewtwo's decided to go on a rampage. I have to find him before he does more damage."

"Why do you even care?" I said with a frown. "He could've hurt someone. In fact, I'm sure he was _trying_ to hurt people!"

"I know it sounds crazy, but Mewtwo is my responsibility." I growled and glared at my trainer. "…Dumb excuse, I know. The truth is…I want to help him. So many bad things have happened to him because of people who only wanted to use him. He hasn't known a kind person for years. He's…kind of like you."

"That's as insulting as it is true," I grumbled.

Red glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the kitchen. "How would Mom react if she knew Mewtwo was behind this? She spoke fondly of him when talking about the past…and she felt bad when she thought Dad's greatest work had gone up in flames because she wasn't strong enough to help him." He looked back at the television and closed his eyes. "I just hope all of this can be resolved peacefully."

"You're just saying that because your dad made him."

" _It appears we have some breaking news! The mysterious white Pokémon was spotted in Cerulean City minutes ago. It was seen entering the infamous Cerulean Cave—a place so dangerous that by law, only Pokémon trainers who have managed to enter the Indigo League Hall of Fame are allowed to enter."_ An image appeared onscreen of the mouth of a cave with a thin strip of land surrounded by water, where several humans wearing armor, accompanied by strong Pokémon, were shown going inside. Seconds later, the same people were shown tending to their injured Pokémon while looking beaten up themselves. _"Authorities have attempted to get through the cave, but the ferocity of the Pokémon inhabiting it have impeded their attempts to get deeper into the cave. They are now staking out the cave's entrance, waiting for the creature to come out on its own."_

"You're going to go, aren't you?" My ears drooped at the sad sound in Red's mother's voice.

"Only trainers who've beaten the Pokémon League are considered strong enough to go through Cerulean Cave," Red explained as he stood to look at her. "And…I'm the champion. I should try to help the people of Kanto when something like this happens…shouldn't I?"

"I know." His mother sounded solemn. I crawled up to the head of the couch to see her and soon regretted it. As she stood behind the couch, she looked like she was on the brink of tears once more. "I understand why you have to do it, but that doesn't mean I like it. And I understand that I can't do anything to stop you. So all I'll do is ask you to take care of yourself out there and pray that you come back in one piece." She looked at me. "Do you hear that? I want you and the others to make sure nothing bad happens to Red."

I nodded and jumped onto Red's head. "I won't let him get hurt. Count on it!"

Red's mom smiled and stroked my head. Then she kissed Red on the forehead. "Just be careful."

"I will. Oh, but…could you please call Professor Oak and tell him I'm coming over?" Red asked as he approached the stairs.

"But…I thought you had to get to Cerulean City."

"I am. There's just something I have to ask him for."

 **X-X-X**

"You want my _what_?!" Professor Oak shouted minutes later after we went to visit his home. "You want my Master Ball to capture Mewtwo?!"

"Maybe. If I can't convince him to stop what he's doing, I'll have to fight him. But he's a powerful Pokémon," Red explained. "The Master Ball has a hundred percent chance of catching a Pokémon it's used on, right?"

"That's true, but…"

"Grandpa! Don't be so petty!" Daisy snapped. I hadn't even noticed when she entered the room, so her presence definitely surprised Red and the professor. "I know it was a really big deal when those people from Silph Co. gave you that Master Ball, but we both know you spend way too much time in your lab to actually use it. At least with Red, it might be used for something better than just catching a Pokémon!"

"I wasn't _going_ to be petty! I was just going to say that it's a 100 percent chance of capturing something _if it hits_. Not all Pokémon stand around and let themselves get put in a Poké Ball. Mewtwo is powerful, and demonstrates psychic abilities, so you'd have to ensure that he won't just crush the Master Ball like a soda can by weakening him first—at least so he won't be able to dodge or defend himself," Professor Oak explained. "Especially since this is the only Master Ball you'll have. You've only got one shot at this, or else you'll have to rely on weaker Poké Balls and a whole lot of luck."

"Does that mean you'll let me have it?"

"Of course! This is a matter of regional importance! Besides, if you capture Mewtwo, I can at least observe him for myself. Just hold on a second." Professor Oak left the room, heading upstairs.

Once her grandfather was gone, Daisy folded her arms across her chest. "Y'know, sometimes I'm glad Blue didn't turn out like you," she began. "At your age, going out and fighting some crazy, violent Pokémon… If Blue was like that, I'd have gray hairs and Grandpa would've died from fright. Not that it's bad, but… Champion or not, you're still just a kid. Adults should be able to handle this without you."

"No one's making me do this. I just want to help Mewtwo. He's had a rough life, and Team Rocket have twisted his view of humans."

"Is that so? I'd feel pity for him if he hadn't tried to hurt innocent people…"

Professor Oak came back downstairs then. He walked up to Red and handed him something small. "Here it is. Remember: this is the only one you've got."

"I understand." From Red's shoulder, I stared down at the Master Ball in its shrunken state, the big white M still visible despite its small size. The two dull red markings on it and its mostly purple body reminded me of a Butterfree. "Thank you. I promise to bring it back if I don't use it." I had to wonder if Red even had a sliver of doubt about possibly convincing Mewtwo to stop his attacks.

 **X-X-X**

The flight to Cerulean City on Charizard's back wasn't as nauseating as usual for me, if only because my thoughts were on what was soon going to happen. It was obvious that Mewtwo wasn't going to give up peacefully, and considering what we saw him do long ago, he wasn't going to be easy to take down. And I had to admit, I was a tiny bit frightened about what might happen.

We landed on the bank in front of Cerulean Cave where several officers and Pokémon stood, immediately drawing attention. "Excuse me, but I'm here to help," Red told the people who were closest to Charizard.

"Oh! You're the champion! Were you called in to help?" One of the officers asked.

"Yes," Red lied. "I'd like to go in alone, if that's okay with you."

"We couldn't do that! There's a dangerous criminal in there!" Oh, right. They thought Giovanni had something to do with this.

Red and I got off of Charizard and he returned him to his ball. "Thank you for your concern, but if Giovanni is in there, I can handle him by myself." If there was something else to be impressed by, it was the fact that Red had gotten better at dealing with the attention he received. There was a person with a camera nearby filming us and a crowd of civilians looking down on us from behind a fence in the vicinity of the city, and he wasn't concerned with all the attention he was getting. "Now please excuse me. I'll do my best to take care of this problem." We didn't even pause before entering the cave, and we didn't stop until it got too dark to see. "Pikachu, use Flash."

"Got it." I charged up for a few seconds before my body began to glow with an extremely bright light. Our surroundings became visible, revealing the unspectacular sight of rocks, boulders, cave walls, and small bodies of water that seemed to be flowing from an unseen place. Any Pokémon who happened to be nearby, used to living in the dark, became agitated. Their angry cries echoed through the cave as they approached us. "We don't have time for you!" I snapped before shocking a Golbat flying overhead, but the attack didn't seem to be enough to knock it out. "Dang. These guys _are_ tough." The wild Pokémon closed in on us and I inched over to Red. "Now would be the time to send out some help!"

Red, however, was busy digging through his bag. "Found it." He pulled out a spray can and immediately sprayed it on himself. I sniffed and immediately recoiled. It had been a long time since I last had the misfortune of smelling some Pokémon Repel. Then, to my dislike, Red sprayed me with the same repel. The wild Pokémon's reaction was the same as my own, and they immediately fled from us. "Thank goodness for Max Repel."

" _Max_? Ugh, I thought it smelled worse than I remembered it…!" I complained as I pinched my nose.

"Let's hurry. Who knows how big this place is, or how faraway Mewtwo is." Red walked down the only path there was that led deeper into the cave. It took me a few seconds to follow him, trying to get used to the smell that clung to me.

 **X-X-X**

The Cerulean Cave was like a giant, naturally-made maze. There were so many twists and turns that I felt like we had gone past the same spots over a dozen times—though that may have just been because every wall and rock looked alike and every once in a while, a Pokémon who wasn't made to flee at the smell of Max Repel made our progress feel slower. But after what felt like hours of searching, we found our target while we were making our way through a large body of water on top of Snorlax. Sitting in the middle of a large piece of land that stood in a corner was Mewtwo, glowing with a bright blue color.

After landing, we approached Mewtwo as quietly as we could. But of course, being a clone of a Psychic type Pokémon, he was probably aware of our presence before we even set foot on dry land again. _"You again… Satoshi's son."_ Mewtwo spoke to us telepathically as he stood up to face us. I noticed the blood on his snout and the tips of his fingers. _"You've saved me the trouble of searching for you myself."_

"Mewtwo… Are you okay?" Red asked, taking a few steps forward. "You're bleeding. Are you hurt?"

" _You're trying to make me believe you're sympathetic? I'm no fool."_

"Was it you who caused all those incidents? Cinnabar Island, the Viridian Gym, the Rocket Game Corner… What was the point of doing that?"

" _Revenge. What you humans would consider justice."_

"As a result of your actions, hundreds of people and Pokémon became homeless. And many more could've been killed." Red stood upright. "I want to resolve this peacefully. I understand that you attacked those places because of what you associate them with…but it's not going to change anything. So please, _stop_ this before you do something truly unforgiveable."

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. _"And what happened to_ _ **me**_ _wasn't unforgivable? I won't stop until I wipe every single human off of the face of this planet!"_ The blue aura around him began to flare. _"I won't entertain this foolishness any longer!"_

I ran in front of Red. "Mew was right: you just wanna take your pain out on others! Well, the one getting punished here is _you_!" I spat as electricity crackled around me.

Red narrowed his eyes and grabbed a pair of Poké Balls. "I tried to give you a chance. Now I've got no choice…" He sent out Snorlax and Espeon in front of me. The latter's first reaction was to rear his back and growl. Eevee had evolved only recently, so it took a while to get used to his slender body, light purple fur, and forked tail, along with his annoying new psychic abilities.

"Try to keep up with me, okay?" Espeon asked Snorlax. Snorlax just grunted and gave the Sun Pokémon a thumbs-up.

"Pikachu, don't—" Red was interrupted when, without warning, Mewtwo held out his hand and launched a ball of dark energy in our direction. "Shadow Ball!" The gem on Espeon's forehead glowed as a similar orb formed in front of him. With a cry, he fired the Shadow Ball into Mewtwo's attack, but it was quickly swallowed. Espeon and I jumped out of the way, but Snorlax raised a paw to grab the attack. Instead of doing damage, it dissipated into black wisps. "Use Belly Drum!" Snorlax began slamming his paws against his stomach, a red aura surrounding him in the process. "Espeon, Swift!" Espeon cried out and a barrage of stars suddenly fired out from his forehead gem.

Mewtwo held out his hand and the stars made impact against an invisible wall that was visible for only a few seconds. His eyes then glowed bright blue and an unseen force pushed Snorlax down to the ground with a downward motion of his hand.

"Shadow Ball!" Espeon launched another ball of dark energy at Mewtwo while he was preoccupied with crushing Snorlax with the weight of his power. The Shadow Ball hit the taller Pokémon in the face, and while it didn't push him back, it got him to flinch and stop his attack. "Body Slam!" With agility that I'd gotten used to, Snorlax jumped off of the ground and used his belly to land on top of Mewtwo, crushing him underneath his weight. "Did that do it?"

"I doubt that," I muttered.

"You're right to doubt. He's not done yet!" Espeon exclaimed.

Then, seconds afterwards, Snorlax was lifted up off the ground, being held up by the hands of Mewtwo, whose body was glowing with a similar red aura that Snorlax had as he flew up. With ease, Mewtwo tossed Snorlax up into the cave's ceiling. Then, as he was falling, the Psychic type pulled back a fist and punched Snorlax in the gut. The force of Mewtwo's punch managed to be enough to send Snorlax flying over our heads and into the lake behind us.

"Snorlax!" Red gasped. "Espeon, Pikachu! Keep him occupied!" He exclaimed as he ran over to the water.

Up in the air, Mewtwo held out his hands and created a large Shadow Ball in front of them. But his target didn't seem to be us, but Red, who was looking in the water for Snorlax. "What are you doing? Go get 'em!" Espeon snapped at me as he began to charge up another Shadow Ball of his own. I charged up and, just after Espeon fired an orb of dark energy that hit Mewtwo in the leg, I unleashed a large bolt of electricity that hit Mewtwo dead on. It was enough to get him to change his targets and fire his Shadow Ball down at us. We both made to dodge the attack at the same time, but Espeon wasn't fast enough. He got hit, yowling in immense pain.

"Espeon!" I ran over to the small crater that had been created in the process and looked inside. He was lying at the bottom, unconscious and badly injured. "I'll get him for this…!" I clenched my teeth and glared up at Mewtwo before my view was obscured by something large, blue and wet.

"Snorlax, Hyper Beam!" Snorlax took a deep breath and roared, unleashing a giant beam of golden energy up at Mewtwo. The Psychic type crossed his arms in front of him in an attempt to block and disappeared from my view for a moment. After Snorlax sat on the ground, panting from exhaustion, I jumped onto his head to get a better look.

Mewtwo continued to float above us, his body glowing and several of his visible injuries healing up. _"Impressive. But no matter how strong your Pokémon are, they aren't even in the same league as me."_ He held out a hand, and in seconds, I felt myself get hit by some invisible force before I went flying back at the same time as Snorlax. Snorlax landed with an earth-shaking thud, while I was lucky enough to be caught in Red's arms. _"Stop struggling and let me destroy you."_

Silently, Red put me down on the ground and returned Snorlax and Espeon to their balls. "Maybe I should stick to one on one…" He wound up sending out Blastoise, whose very first action was to extend his water cannon. Sending _him_ out made sense: as a part-Steel type Pokémon, he was resilient against Psychic type moves. "Take aim and use Hydro Pump!" Red shouted, pointing upward. Blastoise fired a stream of water up at Mewtwo. The attack hit and pushed him back until the stream of water began to freeze. After a few seconds, a large chunk of ice was floating in front Mewtwo. With a throwing gesture, the ice was sent flying down at Blastoise. "Pikachu, Iron Tail!"

"SERIOUSLY?!" I complained, but I still jumped on top of Blastoise's head and jumped at the approaching ice chunk, my tail hardening so that it was hard as steel. With a midair flip, I struck and shattered it in one go.

"Thunderbolt! Ice Beam!" I charged up in midair and unleashed a bolt of electricity once I landed on the ground. At the same time, Blastoise fired a pale blue beam of cold energy up at Mewtwo.

As Mewtwo held out his hands, one crackled with electricity while the other glowed bright blue. They both fired a Thunderbolt and Ice Beam to meet our attacks, but ours seemed to be overpowering his. A vein popped up on Mewtwo's forehead before he screamed not telepathically, but out loud—a wailing cry no different than any Pokémon who was angry or in pain. In the blink of an eye, Mewtwo disappeared and reappeared behind Blastoise. "Iron Tail!" Blastoise spun around to strike Mewtwo on the leg with a steel-hard tail. He took the blow, but that gave him the chance to grab Blastoise's tail and spin him around. Red and I fell to the ground to avoid being hit by Blastoise. With a similar wailing cry, Mewtwo tossed Blastoise up into the air, and while he was up there, he fired another bolt of electricity to hit him while he was in midair. But even after Blastoise fell, Mewtwo refused to let up on him and fired more bolts of electricity at him.

I wondered why Red wasn't giving any orders when I noticed he was taking out the Master Ball. He raised a finger to lips, gesturing for me to keep quiet. I found myself holding my breath, becoming still. If I had fingers, I'd have crossed them. But as soon as he could enlarge the ball, Mewtwo held a hand behind him and Red was dragged towards him, dropping the Master Ball in the process. Red came to a halt in front of Mewtwo, who had stopped attacking Blastoise to turn around and face him. _"_ _ **No one**_ _will capture me again!"_ He spoke telepathically before closing his hand into a fist.

Then, Mewtwo suddenly cried out in pain. The cause was Blastoise, who had managed to sneak up behind him and chomp down hard on his tail. Using only his teeth, he threw Mewtwo aside and fired a large bullet of water, the impact pushing the Psychic type back several feet. "That'll…show ya… You don't know who you're messin'…" Blastoise could only get so much out before he fell forward, unconscious.

While Mewtwo was down, I ran towards Red, pushing the Master Ball along I did. When I was close enough, I noticed Red was taking deep breaths. "You okay?" I asked as I picked up the Master Ball and held it up to him.

Red looked down at me and took the Master Ball from me. "Thanks. I'm okay." Both of us looked at Mewtwo, who was in the middle of healing again from that familiar aura surrounding him. "I guess it's not enough to wait until his back is turned. I have to use this when he's on his last legs."

"And with how much he likes healing himself, that'll be annoying," I added as Red returned Blastoise to his ball.

"He can't heal forever. He may be genetically enhanced, and he may be a clone of Mew, but all Pokémon have a limit." Red grabbed another Poké Ball and sent out Venusaur. "Venusaur, Leech Seed!" A series of seeds popped out of the flower on Venusaur and landed on top of Mewtwo while he was preoccupied with healing. The seeds burst up and vines wrapped around him, glowing bright green. Of course, Mewtwo began struggling right away. "Sweet Scent!" A pink mist that was sickeningly sweet-smelling wafted over to Mewtwo and surrounded him. Before he could break free of the Leech Seed, his expression relaxed and he slouched forward.

"Now maybe he'll stay still and let himself be captured," I spoke. But, of course, Mewtwo continued to resist. Another vein popped up on his head as he stared at us. The relaxed expression on his face disappeared and became a wild, wide-eyed look. Mewtwo broke free of the leeching vines with his psychic power, using it to rip them off completely.

"Toxic!" Venusaur's flower spat up a thick purple liquid that landed on Mewtwo's face, stopping him in his tracks as he was flying forward. "Petal Dance!" A whirlwind carrying flower petals raced towards Mewtwo and hit him in the chest, pushing him back. Mewtwo had apparently been blinded, because when one of his hands caught on fire and he unleashed a stream of fire, it missed Venusaur by a mile and he was hit by another petal-carrying whirlwind for his trouble. When a third whirlwind went rushing towards Mewtwo, he bellowed and a burst of psychic energy caused it to disperse while also pushing Venusaur back a few feet.

" _You're all…so…annoying!"_ Mewtwo spoke before firing another stream of fire at Venusaur. This time, his attack hit, causing Venusaur to catch on fire. Mewtwo then took to the air and began to create a Shadow Ball.

"Solar Beam!" The large flower on Venusaur's back closed up and shifted positions as all of his foliage began to glow bright yellow. A golden light began to shine from inside of the flower, growing brighter every second. In the meantime, Mewtwo was taking his time by increasing the size of his Shadow Ball. Now it was roughly the size of an Electrode and getting bigger. After a few more seconds, Venusaur roared and fired a blast of golden energy from within his flower. Mewtwo threw the Shadow Ball in such a way that it missed crossing paths with Venusaur's attack. The Psychic type took the attack without attempting to defend himself, just as the Shadow Ball hit went flying into Venusaur's face.

With the ferocity of both their attacks, Venusaur and Mewtwo seemed to be severely injured. Mewtwo in particular looked blue in the face from the effect of the poisoning. Then, with a grunt, he made a gesture with his hand, causing an unseen force to push Venusaur to the ground, knocking him out. For a second, Mewtwo faltered and seemed like he was going to fall to the ground, but he recovered and wound up healing himself again. But not all of his injuries healed up, and even from down on the ground, his body language said that he was exhausted.

"He's finally on his last legs," Red spoke. In a flash of light, he sent out Charizard, who roared and spat out embers. "Take flight and use Flamethrower!" Charizard spread his wings and took flight. When he was a few feet away from Mewtwo, he roared, breathing out a stream of fire. One of Mewtwo's hands suddenly caught on fire, and when he held it forward, a similar stream of fire clashed with Charizard's attack. After a few seconds, Mewtwo's attack began to push back Charizard's. "Keep going and use Twister!" Keeping up his attack, Charizard flapped his wings and created a twister that rose up between the two attacks. Its furious winds somehow sucked in the flames until it was practically on fire, then it faded away.

Mewtwo growled and a third vein popped up on his forehead, an all three throbbed violently. He pulled back the hand he had stretched out and Charizard was pulled towards him by an invisible force. When he was close enough, the Psychic type delivered a punch that sent the Flame Pokémon flying a few feet backwards. But he caught himself in midair, snarling and glaring at his opponent.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt," Red spoke softly as Mewtwo flew towards Charizard. "Wing Attack!" Charizard zoomed forward, and when he was close enough, he ducked to the side so that one of his wings hit Mewtwo in the face. While Mewtwo was stunned, I charged up and fired an electric bolt up at him, paralyzing him. "Now, Dragon Breath and Thunder!" Then, at the same time, I shocked him with a more powerful bolt of electricity while Charizard breathed out a pink-tinged blast of air. When the combo was finished, Mewtwo fell to the ground a few feet away from us.

"Is he finally unconscious?" I asked weakly. I got my answer as Mewtwo got on his knees and roared. A visible blast of blue psychic energy knocked all of us back. "Ask a dumb question…" I trailed off as my vision began to refocus.

"You two okay?" Red asked as he sat up. He opened his mouth to say something else, but another roar from Mewtwo alerted us when he dashed towards us. Charizard immediately got in front of Red and took a punch to the gut from Mewtwo, but he kept standing. "Use Slash!" At Red's command, he performed an upward slash along the taller Pokémon's torso that forced him to step back, but Mewtwo responded by kneeing him in the stomach and then delivering a left hook. "Flamethrower!" Fire was blasted into Mewtwo's face, but that didn't stop the Psychic type from grabbing Charizard's head and throwing him aside, then firing a flurry of stars while he was down, and preparing to finish the job by creating another large Shadow Ball. Red did the smart thing and returned Charizard to his ball before he could be seriously injured, so the only thing Mewtwo's last attack did was created a small crater in the ground. "That's it… You're the only one in any shape to fight, Pikachu…"

Mewtwo turned to look at us with a wild look in his eyes as fresh blood dribbled down his snout. Both of us stepped back in fear, but I found it in me to put on a look of determination. "I won't lose! I can't lose! I _really_ can't lose!" I chanted to myself as Mewtwo came closer.

"Flash!" For a moment, I lit up the cavern with a bright light, and that was enough to stop and blind Mewtwo. "Iron Tail!" Then I dashed forward and struck Mewtwo in the leg with my hardened tail, but that gave him the chance to kick me aside. I quickly got up in time to see Mewtwo's Shadow Ball hurtling towards me before it missed and hit a wall behind me. "Thunderbolt!" I quickly unleashed a bolt of electricity, which Mewtwo met with a Thunderbolt of his own. He then punched his hand forward, causing a blast of psychic energy to knock me onto my back. That single blow really knocked the wind out of me. I expected to be knocked out, but Mewtwo seemed to be taking the time to catch his breath and spit up blood. Red gave a command, but a ringing in my ears prevented me from hearing him clearly.

"Get up… _Get up_!" I grunted as I twitched, forcing myself to stand up. I narrowed my eyes as Mewtwo's attention fell on me once more. I didn't know what Red wanted me to do, but I zapped Mewtwo with a large bolt of electricity. I faltered afterwards, the attack having exhausted me. Mewtwo, on the other hand, was still standing, glowing with a blue aura. It seemed like he finally decided to heal himself again. And when he was done, he turned and began to approach Red. "Red…! No…! Run…!" Of course, that was a stupid command. I doubt Red would be able to swim through the Pokémon-infested lake or avoid the feral Pokémon wandering around, let alone outrun Mewtwo.

I thought I had gotten to a point where I was strong enough to take down anything with my _own_ power. Where it was my training and determination that made the difference, not what sort of modifications were made to my body. It made me hate myself for tapping into the power that I swore to both Red and myself that I wouldn't use again.

"Get away from him!" I growled as I bared my teeth and pain—that familiar burning pain that I thought I had forgotten—began to fill my body. "GET AWAY!" I launched myself at Mewtwo, striking him in the back with a punch that caused him to kneel. I roared as I continued the assault, thinking about my teammates each time I landed a blow. With the sixth and last strike, I punched Mewtwo with all my might before sinking down to the ground. After a few seconds of kneeling, Mewtwo stood up and continued to approach Red. "I won't…let you…harm him…!" I panted as my vision blurred. Then, although I fought to stay awake, I fell unconscious.

 **X-X-X**

I felt the urge to suddenly spring to consciousness when I felt a bitter taste in my throat, and my first reaction was to start zapping.

"Whoa! Watch what you're doing!" Espeon snapped. "Not that I didn't see that coming, but I'm too tired to try dodging things right now."

"Huh?" I looked around at our surroundings. The rest of team, including Red, was standing around, looking battered and exhausted. We were still in the Cerulean Cave in the middle of that underground lake. But Mewtwo was nowhere to be seen. "What happened? Did we…win?"

"By default," Espeon answered.

"What's _that_ mean?"

"It means we won because Mewtwo's issues ain't just mental," Blastoise added.

"That's kind of rude, isn't it?" Venusaur asked. "He was just angry about everything that's happened to him. You should understand."

"I wrecked a gym! He blew up a _volcano_!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but I was suddenly picked up by Snorlax and caught in a tight hug. "We're aliiive! That guy was so strong that he made my life flash before my eyes!"

"The only reason he did so well against us was because of all that experimenting and junk! We could've beaten him in a heartbeat if he was a normal Pokémon!" Blastoise complained.

"You're hardly normal, either," Venusaur and Charizard spoke at the same time.

"Wait a minute! What the heck happened?!" I shouted, feeling energized enough to shout. I looked at Red in confusion. "You're the only one who can give me answers, I think."

Red didn't really look victorious. More relieved. "After you fainted, Mewtwo was about to kill me when…his condition got worse and he collapsed." His expression became a sad one. "I caught him the Master Ball just in case he attempted to struggle, but…I don't think he was in any shape to do so. He looked…pitiful…"

"Good! It's what he deserves for all the trouble he's done! And constantly healing himself like a _jerk_!"

"We need to get back to Pallet Town to heal him up."

"WE'RE GONNA DO WHAT?! Put me down! Put me _down_!" I shouted as I began punching Snorlax in vain. "You can't just heal the guy who tried to kill you!"

"I'm sure you're all upset, but I couldn't live with myself if something bad happened to Mewtwo. I'm not sure if his condition will be stable in the PC. And I can't heal him at the Cerulean Pokémon Center because his identity will be discovered. The only option is to have Professor Oak treat him."

"I still say this is a bad idea... Can we at least wait until we're all healed up so when the inevitable happens, we all just _pounce_ on him?"

"I agree!" Blastoise and Espeon shouted together as they raised their respective claws and paws.

 **X-X-X**

The following day, I was woken up by Red for a change. "Come on, Pikachu. It's after 10 already."

"Nooo…! Give me until 11! I'm still sore all over!" I whined as Red picked me up and tucked me under his arm. "Mewtwo really knows how to hit hard with little effort, doesn't he? I feel like such a wimp."

"I know you're still exhausted after what happened last night, but I hope you aren't beating yourself up too badly over losing."

"We won by default," I muttered.

"It's nice to lose every once in a while. It shows that we still have room to improve."

I wrinkled my nose. "That doesn't make it _nice_. And losing last night could've _killed us_!"

"Of course, losing wasn't an option last night. If Mewtwo hadn't tired himself out from all that fighting…" Red trailed off. "Speaking of which, I hope he's gotten better since then. Professor Oak said his condition would be stable so long as he was in the PC and that he would heal Mewtwo first thing this morning."

"You're just too nice, you know?"

When we got downstairs, we saw Red's mother sitting on the couch watching TV. When she saw us, she immediately got on her feet. "Good morning, you two! I hope you don't mind that I let you sleep in, but I figured you needed some rest," she said with a sweet smile. "They were talking about you on the news this morning. I saw that interview, too."

Red audibly groaned and covered his face with one hand. "I regret the story that I came up with…" For clarification, to hide the fact that Mewtwo was chilling out in Red's PC, he lied _big time_. He said Mewtwo was a brainwashed experiment of Team Rocket's who had gotten loose recently, but after getting his common sense knocked back into him, showed he was a compassionate being who felt immense guilt for his actions and teleported away to seek solitude away from humans as punishment towards himself. And everyone seemed to believe that, even if some of them wanted Mewtwo to be punished a bit more harshly. I meant it when I said he lied big time—he managed to fool an entire region.

"So, Red… That Pokémon you caught…is really Mewtwo?" Red's mom asked, looking teary-eyed. "That's what you called it on the news." I felt Red stiffen, but he still found it in him to nod. "To think that's what happened to the Pokémon your father made… It's sad that happened to his legacy. Would it be okay…if I saw him?"

"I…think he needs some time to recuperate first, physically and mentally. He may not react well to seeing someone from his past."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

"He knows who I am, though, so maybe…if he's up to it."

"Right. I have to make sure _I'm_ up to it, too," Red's mom said with a small smile. "Goodness, why am I just gabbing like this? Professor Oak left a message this morning before I even woke up! You need to eat some breakfast and get over to his lab!"

After she headed into the kitchen, Red gave a shuddering sigh. "I just lied to my mother…"

"There, there," I said, patting his ribs. "It's probably better that she thinks he wasn't in control of his actions."

"Thanks for trying to comfort me, but I still feel dirty," Red muttered as he took a seat at the table.

 **X-X-X**

After eating breakfast, we headed over to Professor Oak's lab. Instead of the usual places like the lobby or his office, we found him in what was called the research center doing the strangest thing: measuring a conscious and fully-healed Mewtwo.

"Height: 6 feet, 6.7 inches…" He spoke before jotting something down on a clipboard. "Body shape: sciurine. Now, would you mind giving me a footprint and handprint?" Professor Oak asked with a smile. He then noticed us standing in the doorway, both of us in shock. "Oh, Red! Come in, come in! I was just getting to know Mewtwo here!"

"Professor…why is he out of his ball?" Red asked.

"And is he drugged for our safety?" I added.

"Well, when I healed him, I thought he would pop out and go on a rampage, but he didn't. So after a while, curiosity got the better of me and I sent him out. What? Don't look at me like that. I never got this chance with Mew."

Red sighed and looked at Mewtwo. "Are you feeling better now?"

Mewtwo did nothing but stare at Red. It wasn't the hate-filled look he had been giving him last night, though. Which I supposed was a good thing. Professor Oak wound up speaking in his place, "He's feeling just fine. I think that Berserk Gene of his finally wore off."

"Berserk Gene?"

"I don't really understand it myself, but according to Mewtwo, it was something that was something that was implanted into him by Team Rocket back when he refused to fight. When his emotions flare, the gene activates, granting him immense power at the cost of his lucidity." So that explained why he started acting like a souped-up Primeape after a while. "But it seems that it's had a poor effect on his health, alongside of whatever Team Rocket did to him during their experiments. If he wants to live long, he'll have to pursue a healthier lifestyle and learn to control himself so he doesn't wind up activating the gene again."

"I see…"

I frowned and pointed at Mewtwo. "You idiot! If it hurts you to use that, why risk doing things that'll make it start up?"

" _I don't care if I live or die,"_ Mewtwo spoke for the first time since we entered, looking down at me. _"Whatever I was created to be in the beginning, my sole reason for existing was to be strong. To win every battle I entered. To be the ultimate Pokémon. And when I gained my freedom, I wanted to use my power to destroy everything s revenge. The only thing I exist for is destruction."_

"Uh…we only won by default, y'know," I pointed out.

"That's a sad perception of your own life," Professor Oak stated, looking sorry for Mewtwo. "Not every Pokémon lives to only battle. Some Pokémon work alongside of people. Others entertain. And some just live with humans. Even trainers who make battling with Pokémon their main priority don't treat them like mere battle machines. The _good ones_ , anyway."

" _I am made for—_ "

"You were made to prove that Dr. Fuji's experiments were a success. And Dad loved you enough to want to preserve your life so you _wouldn't_ become a weapon," Red spoke as he stepped closed to Mewtwo. "So please… Don't say things like that and make his efforts meaningless. He wanted you to live like any other Pokémon. You don't have to live with _me_ …if you don't want to. Just live."

Mewtwo stared at Red for a few seconds before raising his hand. At first, I thought he was going to attack, so I tensed up. But to my surprise, all he did was take off Red's hat and crouch to look at his face. _"…You look like Satoshi."_ And then, to my surprise, Mewtwo bowed his head and began to cry. _"I'm sorry…!"_

"It's…okay, Mewtwo," Red tried to comfort him. He even went so far as to pet Mewtwo on the head.

"Aww! Even the harshest Pokémon have a soft spot!" said Professor Oak. "Are you feeling a little jealous, Pikachu?"

"This is _skepticism_ , not _jealousy_ , you stupid old man!" I snapped before glaring at the scene in front of me. "He might be sorry, but you can tell he's purposely overdoing it with the waterworks." I soon found myself sighing. Now there was another annoying addition to the team. "I wonder how _this_ is all gonna work out…?"

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **The chapter title is a reference to the subtitle of the first Pokémon movie.**

 **Espeon learns Shadow Ball via TM. Mewtwo learns Shadow Ball via TM, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt via Move Tutor and TM, and Flamethrower via Move Tutor. Blastoise learns Ice Beam via TM. Venusaur learns Toxic via TM. Beat Up obviously isn't learnable by Pikachu.**

 **Beat Up is described in-game as the user having its conscious party members appear and attack. Here, it's just the user drawing the power of their party members.**

 **The timeline as of this chapter is around the beginning of the Johto-based games, which is why Gen 2 influences—like Red having an Espeon and calling Blastoise a Steel type—are present.**

 **Espeon is only used by Red in the Gen 2 games, when he's challenged on Mt. Silver, and replaced by Lapras in later games. It is thought to be either a reference to the Eevee gotten in Celadon City, Blue's starter in Yellow, or the Espeon owned by Red's manga counterpart in Pokémon Adventures/Special.**

 **The Master Ball is received from the president of Silph Co. in the Gen 1 games, not Professor Oak.**

 **The Berserk Gene is an item that only exists in Gen 2 and can be found outside of the former entrance to Cerulean Cave. It raises attack power two stages at the cost of confusing the Pokémon holding it at the start of the battle and being a consumable item.**

 **X-X-X**

 **Remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


	23. Chapter 23 - The Golden Boy

**The final chapter of Pokémon Volt Yellow is (finally) here!**

 _Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series—only this fic._

 **X-X-X**

Several months ago, I would've found it weird that a genetically altered clone of Mew was living in my house as if it was a household Pokémon. Now, it felt weird to know that he wanted to leave.

"You…want to leave?" Mom asked that morning at breakfast, looking sad. "Was it something we did? Is it because you don't get to walk around outside very much?"

" _You've done nothing but try to make me feel welcome,"_ Mewtwo answered with a shake of his head, while nearby, Pikachu and Espeon had stopped eating their own breakfasts to stare up at him. _"However...I have a yearning to see the rest of this world. I dream about all the places to see in it… About all the people and Pokémon who live in it. Such curiosity is strange for me to feel."_

"…I think I understand. All kids have to leave home someday…even though it feels like just yesterday since you came home. But, wait. I'm not the one to decide if you get to leave or not."

With that statement, all attention fell on me. "I don't mind if you want to leave, but…are you…going to be okay on your own?" Mewtwo hadn't gone berserk since he was captured, and he had mellowed out a lot thanks to living in a healthier environment—mostly because of how nurturing Mom had been towards them since they'd been reintroduced to one another, I think. But out there, who knows what would happen? What if something made him snap again? What if someone else tried to use him?

" _You don't think I've changed?"_ Mewtwo asked.

"I think you've changed for the better since you came to live here, I know for certain that you're capable of taking care of yourself. It's just…I can't help but worry about the things that could happen to you."

"It's natural to worry about someone you love when they go somewhere far away," Mom said as she took hold of Mewtwo's hand. "You'll miss us and think about us when we're apart, too, won't you? I know I will. Having you here reminds me of the days before, with Satoshi…"

Mewtwo smiled down at her as I took out the Master Ball that held him and stared at it. _"It's the same for me. And there's a part of me that feels that he would want me to stay here and look after you and Red. But—"_

"No buts. If Satoshi knew you wanted to leave, he would probably do the same thing that Dr. Fuji did."

"That's right," I said as I held up the ball. "So, if you want, we can do this somewhere a bit more private…"

 **X-X-X**

Much later, the entire family found itself out on what remained on Cinnabar Island. It seemed fitting since there was little reason to visit it these days, as sad as the early and latest memories of it were. Mom and Mewtwo were more affected by it than I was, though. Neither of them said a word once we hit the shore, so the only noise came from the wind, the sea hitting against the rocks, and the click the Master Ball made as Mewtwo was officially released from it.

" _I regret doing this,"_ Mewtwo spoke up all of a sudden. _"I had already ruined the place where we all last spent time together. But out of petty anger, I destroyed it completely…wiped out the last of those who had been my first friends. I have to make up for that, even if it takes the rest of my life."_

"I feel the same way. If I could've done more for you all, none of this might have happened," Mom said as I shook her head. "Those poor dears. I wish I had gotten up the courage to see them one last time. I'm sure they're in a better place now."

I stared at Mom for a few seconds before bowing my head. "At the very least, some of them were able to get out safely." At least, that's what Blaine had said. The survivors had been sent to Lavender Town to live with Mr. Fuji. But he only had so many Poké Balls on him in order to capture the Pokémon living in the mansion, and sadly, not all of them understood what was going on—or maybe they did. Who knows what thoughts they had on that day?

We spent a few more seconds in silence before Mom spoke up, "Well…take care of yourself out there." She hugged Mewtwo tightly for a few seconds before stepping back. "And know that you can always come back to us if things don't turn out the way you'd like. We're family, after all." She looked down at me and gently shoved my shoulder. "Well? Don't you have something to say to him?"

"Um… Don't pick fights unless it's in defense or you absolutely have to. And if you happen to meet Mew out there, be nice. You might be able to become friends. That's another thing: you should try to make friends. Start with Pokémon first, and if you meet a human you think you could honestly like, be friendly and try not to scare them. And if such a person wants you to join them…you can, if you want to. And—"

Pikachu interrupted me by giving me a mild shock. "You sounded like a worrisome parent…" Mom pointed out while Pikachu nodded. Then he started to speak to Mewtwo, pointing and gesturing, and every once in a while, Mewtwo would nod.

" _I won't let his kindness be in vain. I promise."_ Mewtwo began to stare at us, and suddenly, tears welled up in his eyes. _"This…is more difficult than I thought it would be. I'll miss you all."_ He slowly floated up into the air as he continued to look down at us. _"I hope we will meet again one day…"_ Then, after a few more seconds of staring at us, he turned his back to us and flew off.

We stood there watching until Mewtwo had vanished from our sight. Mom hooked an arm around my shoulders and pulled me in for a hug. "That was as painful as when I had to see you off the first time you left home. Can you imagine? But I'm happy that we had what little time we spent together. And I'm sure he'll come back someday."

"Yeah," I mumbled as I hugged Mom back. "Someday…"

 **X-X-X**

 _Chapter 23: The Golden Boy_

It had been a short while after new replacements had been found for the Elite Four—the Psychic type user Will, the Dark type user Karen, and Koga from Fuchsia City—that I had made the decision to retire from the position of Indigo League champion, offering the position to the first person who could beat me. Most people overreacted to it, not entirely sure why I wanted to give up the position after a short amount of time of success, especially when the person who held the title of reigning champion before Blue held it for over two decades. Others seemed grateful since I hadn't lost since I gained the position by some strange twist of fortune, meaning there hadn't been anyone entered into the Hall of Fame after me. Regardless of their reactions, it made a big stir in Kanto and Johto, bringing trainers who had failed to beat the final challenge before and those who already entered the Hall of Fame before me for the sake of gaining the title.

The truth was that I wasn't entirely sure why I wanted to retire from being the Champion. Maybe the loss to Mewtwo made me feel unworthy of being called the strongest trainer in Kanto and Johto. Maybe I wanted my team and I to become stronger, and I knew that staying in one place wouldn't help us. Maybe I was aching to go exploring once more and see what the world had to offer beyond Kanto. Or maybe I learned to stop feeling bad about what happened with Blue, and the title stopped seeming like something I snatched from him mercilessly.

That had to have been why I didn't feel too bad seeing Pikachu fall in battle to Lance's Dragonite. All I did was take a breath and sigh. "Congratulations, Lance. The title's yours." I thought I should've said it with more enthusiasm, because Lance seemed upset when we met in the middle of the battlefield. "Is…something wrong?"

"Were you really battling with all your heart?" Lance asked with a frown, folding his arms across his chest. "Because it feels like I didn't win because of my talent as a trainer or my Pokémon's strength."

"You're overthinking things. You've gotten stronger since you left the Elite Four."

Lance allowed himself to smile. "Thank you. I had intended to spend all of my time back home in Johto training, but a situation arose and I wound up being pulled into something." I stared at him in confusion, expecting an explanation, but all he said about it was, "It's all done with now, so don't worry. Actually, I had some help from a boy who reminded me of you."

"In what way?" I asked flatly, not sure if this was the beginning of a joke.

"He's young, but he's a very capable trainer with a strong sense of justice. He also wanted to become the Champion, but it looks like I got here, first." Lance sighed and held a hand to his head. "And for some strange reason, I feel like my cousin's partially to blame…" I found myself staring in confusion before Lance recovered. "So, what do you plan on doing now? More training?" I could only nod. "You could always challenge the Johto half of the Indigo League. If they know you've already beaten the Kanto half, the Gym Leaders will go at you with full force."

At the mention of Johto, my heart skipped a beat. A new region to explore, with new challenges to overcome and new experiences. I was already eager. "Maybe I will..."

 **X-X-X**

I had left Kanto for Johto after only a day after losing my title. My mom was worried that I was going to get into more trouble in another region, especially so soon after Mewtwo's departure, but she supported me nonetheless. Professor Oak recommended places to visit and, if possible, to get a radio card for Johto so I could tune in to his radio show. Blue _said_ he was upset that I gave up my position of Champion before he could defeat me and get it back, but he didn't _look_ it. After coming back from the Sevii Islands, he had mellowed out enough to go back to his usual self, and had even taken up the position of the gym leader of the Viridian Gym. Our goodbye wasn't heartwarming or filled with apologies, but it also wasn't as volatile as it could have been.

Our time in Johto was enjoyable. Compared to Kanto, there was something old-fashioned about it despite there being cities as big as Celadon. I found myself taking pictures, sending postcards, visiting popular and famous sites like the Olivine Lighthouse, the dance hall in Ecruteak City, and the Bellsprout Tower… I felt like a tourist when my mind wasn't focused on my training.

I challenged the Johto half of the Indigo League like Lance requested. Once the gym leaders knew I had already gone through Kanto, they were eager to use their strongest Pokémon and hold nothing back. Some of them were quite the characters, and they didn't treat me differently despite knowing who I was. It was nice to be treated like just another trainer again. But they always compared me to a boy they say defeated them in recent months—never the other way around. Sometimes it had to do with how he overcame impossible odds with his Pokémon. Sometimes it was the fact that he had a Pokémon walking around with him out of its ball—sometimes two at once. Sometimes it was the look in his eye. He may have been the same boy that Lance talked about, and the thought made my curiosity about him run wild. But in my entire journey across Johto, I was never fortunate enough to find him. It was a shame, because I was looking forward to meeting him.

I thought that was that, and that my next destination would be home. But Professor Oak told me of another place I could go. A place with Pokémon so terrifyingly strong that only trainers who had gotten all sixteen badges from the Indigo League were considered skilled enough to enter: Mount Silver, which stood at the border between Kanto and Johto. The thought of it excited me, because I assumed the requirements to enter there meant that the only the very best trainers who defeated the Indigo League were allowed to enter. Surely, I thought, there were lots of people at Mount Silver who felt the same way I did.

 **X-X-X**

When we reached Route 28, where Mount Silver stood, I was surprised. Even the weakest-looking of Pokémon, like a Poliwag, a Teddiursa, or even a _Magikarp_ , were eager to pick fights and refused to just let us get on our way. And while we didn't lose, the wild Pokémon there didn't exactly fall quickly or run away at the first injury. For the longest time, we saw no other people aside from myself until nightfall, when we spotted lights in the distance. It was a Pokémon Center—the smallest one I'd ever seen. But a Pokémon Center usually meant people, and more importantly, a place to rest after the long hike. So, being careful not to alert anymore wild Pokémon, we ran into the building.

But it was empty. There wasn't even a nurse behind the lone counter. Other notable things was how unlike a typical Pokémon Center lobby this one's was. There was a set of chairs lined up against a wall, a table on one side of the room set up like something from a dining room, a bookshelf—it all felt more like a home than a Pokémon Center.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" I called out at the same time as Pikachu.

A door behind the counter opened, and out came a woman dressed in casual clothing. She stared at us for a few seconds before suddenly exclaiming, "Oh! You're a trainer, aren't you?" She asked, pointing a finger at me. "Geez, it's been such a long time since someone came up here. Oh, but I'm forgetting myself. Welcome! I'll heal your Pokémon up if you want."

"Thank you." I approached her and handed over my Poké Balls first. "Is it always this empty?" I asked before handing over Pikachu.

"Well, not many trainers complete the _entire_ Indigo League, but there have been enough in the past to warrant a Pokémon Center all the way out here." The nurse placed Pikachu on a tray along with the balls. "I don't really mind the isolation. The last place I worked in was _way_ too hectic. By the way, would you like something to eat? A room for the night, I hope."

"Yes. Thank you."

"I'll get on it once I'm done here."

I stood in place as the nurse tended to my Pokémon. There was no need to sit down since I was the only person being serviced. I glanced in the direction of the stairs and that brought a question to mind. "Are there any other trainers here?"

"Right now? No. I've only been working here for half a year, but you're the first person I've seen come through here." With the sound of a chime, I found my Pokémon being returned to me. "Then again, there could be trainers who never bothered to come here and just went into the mountain. I've been told to always search it in case anyone has an accident. But enough about that dreary stuff! How about dinner?"

 **X-X-X**

The following day, instead of waiting around for trainers that likely wouldn't appear, I decided it wouldn't be a waste of time to explore Mount Silver. At the very least, I thought the wild Pokémon would prove to be a challenge. But in truth, the biggest challenge was navigating through the mountain itself. It was huge with loads of paths and dead ends, sometimes leading to the dens and nests of fearsomely strong Pokémon. Occasionally, I'd find some sign of humans being there, but whenever I got my hopes up, I realized they looked too old to be recent.

We made our way outside after what felt like hours near the mountain's summit, but it didn't get easier from there. There were still Pokémon wandering around, and the further up we went, the colder it got. At a certain height, it began to snow, the ground and the greenery became white with fallen snow. We continued to climb, me sometimes requiring assistance from one of my Pokémon to make it up further. And finally, we made it to the very top. By then, I didn't have any energy left to stand. I just fell to my knees and let the falling snow soak me while I recovered. In the meantime, Pikachu walked over to the edge and stared out at the land before us. Even from my position, I could see the wide expanse of land—the awe-inspiring view of both Kanto and Johto. It almost made me dizzy…or maybe that was the lack of oxygen from the high altitude. Still, I couldn't resist getting up and joining Pikachu to get a better look.

But the moment of peace was disrupted by a loud voice boorishly shouting, "FINALLY! FINA-FREAKIN'-LLY! WE'RE AT THE TOP!" I brought our attention to the bottom of the slope where I had come from, where I saw a pair of figures approaching. "Welp, now I can scratch "climb a mountain" off of my bucket list, 'cuz there's no way I ever wanna do something like this again!" When they were close enough, I could easily make them out. One was a boy about my age dressed in red and black and wearing a black and yellow hat turned backwards, with eyes that were a vibrant shade of yellow. The other was a Pokémon I'd only ever seen on TV, a Typhlosion, something native to Johto. They were in an odd position, the Typhlosion hugging the boy from behind while flames crackled around the back of its neck like a mane of fire.

All four of us stared at each other with little reaction for a few seconds. I know my reason for not saying anything was exhaustion, but the boy in front of me looked stunned. The Typhlosion struck him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "It's Red! You're Red! I dunno whether to yell at ya or ask for your autograph! Uh…forget that last bit…" After a few more seconds of muttering to himself, the boy posed with his hands on his hips, the Typhlosion still hugging him from behind. "The name's Gold! Ethan Gold! I traveled across two freaking regions because I wanted to battle ya, and now I've got my chance!"

"Battle?" The word left my mouth almost unintentionally. "You're challenging me to a battle?"

I'm not sure if he heard me, because he continued, "I wanted to beat you at the Pokémon League and become the Champion, but that schmuck in the cape got the title first! Even so, this story ain't gonna be over until I defeat you!"

I looked down at Pikachu. "He wants to battle." Pikachu's response was a half-lidded stare, as if saying "No. Really?" Then I looked down at the boy—Ethan, who continued to rant about his hardships until I spoke up, "Okay." That got him to stop talking and look up at me. "Let's have a battle." Ethan's eyes lit up as a grin spread across his face, and I felt like I could relate. The prospect of battling another trainer who was strong enough to get here somehow managed to warm me up.

Minutes later, we both stood several feet apart from one another on the summit, Poké Balls in our hands. Keeping our eyes on one another, we sent out our first picks: Espeon for me, and a small, white, winged Pokémon for Ethan, its body decorated with red and blue shapes. The Pokédex called it a Togetic, the only information sticking out about it being that it brought good fortune and happiness to the kindhearted people they appeared before.

"Okay, Tic! Start with Sweet Kiss!" The Togetic quickly blew out a kiss in the form of a glowing heart that hit Espeon, causing him to stand unsteadily on his feet.

"Psychic!" The stone on Espeon's forehead glowed before a burst of purple energy hit the Togetic from out of nowhere, pushing it back closer to Ethan.

"Shadow Ball!"

"Block it with Shadow Ball!" As Togetic formed a ball of dark energy between its hands and threw it forward, Espeon created a similar ball and sent it flying. The two attacks collided, dissolving into dark wisps. "Swift!" Stars formed around Espeon before they shot forward. The Togetic raised its arms in front of itself to lessen the damage it took.

"Use Return!" A white glow surrounded the Togetic as it charged into Espeon, knocking him back. "Now Shadow Ball!" Then it quickly threw another Shadow Ball, knocking Espeon down, but not out.

"Psychic!" Espeon narrowed his eyes, attempting to attack, but instead winced like the action hurt himself.

"Use Return again!" Togetic flew up over Espeon and began to glow once more. It dove downward, effectively slamming down on his back before floating back up into the air. The blow still wasn't enough to knock Espeon out. "Tougher than it looks."

I glanced up at the cloudy sky for a few seconds before commanding, "Morning Sun!" Espeon began to glow bright white and a thin beam of light shined down upon him from the sky, only slightly healing his injuries due to the cloudiness. But it was enough to help him get back up. "Once more, Psychic!" The Togetic was hit by a pulse of psychic energy, knocking it out of the sky.

Ethan returned it into its ball before it could hit the ground. "There, there, Tic. You did a great job." He took out another Poké Ball—a bright green one with red and yellow markings on it. "Finish the job, Eon!" In a flash of light, an Umbreon appeared in front of him, the gold markings on its body glowing as it growled. "Quick Attack and Bite!" In the blink of an eye, the Umbreon tackled into Espeon, then followed up by biting him in the shoulder. Espeon yowled in pain before sinking to the ground, unconscious.

I returned Espeon to his ball. "You did well. Now rest up." Then, without a word, I sent out Snorlax. "Belly Drum!" He began to drum his stomach, causing a powerful red aura to form around him.

"Toxic!" The Umbreon shook its body and secreted liquid poison that covered Snorlax. "Now Confuse Ray!" The rings on its body then lit up, blinding Snorlax with a bright flash that caused him to stand unsteadily.

"Mega Punch!" Snorlax steadied himself before jumping forward, swinging a paw at the Umbreon.

"Feint Attack!" Ethan's Umbreon looked like it was going to run headfirst into Snorlax's fist, but it was merely faking a right and quickly dodged his fist to charge headfirst into his stomach, then nimbly jumped away from Snorlax as he recovered.

"Earthquake!" Snorlax jumped, but landed inappropriately, instead landing on his bottom and causing the ground to shake slightly.

"Screech!" The Umbreon took a deep breath and made an ear-piercing screech that was annoying enough to cause Snorlax to cover his ears in pain before he even got up. "Bite!" It growled before jumping on Snorlax, biting down hard on his arm.

"Seismic Toss!" Snorlax easily grabbed the Umbreon's hind leg with one paw while it was biting down on his arm. He winced as he pulled it off, then he began spin it around over his head before chucking it back over to Ethan, where it quickly recovered. He then twitched and began to turn blue in the face. "Use Rest!" Snorlax yawned and fell backwards. After hitting the ground, he began to snore and his condition quickly improved.

"Dang it, how annoying…! Eon, use Curse!" Purple wisps rose up from the Umbreon's body as a red aura surrounded it briefly. "While we're at it, use Moonlight!" The rings on its body then lit up and a thin beam of light shone down on Umbreon from the sky while Snorlax continued to sleep. "Now bite it and don't stop till it wakes up!" The Moonlight Pokémon charged at Snorlax and went about biting various parts of his body.

Snorlax winced in his sleep and responded by snoring loudly enough to cause the Umbreon to wince physically in pain, but it kept up its attack. Eventually, the pain caused Snorlax to sit up with a gasp. "Body Slam!" He jumped up and landed on top of the Umbreon, crushing it beneath his belly. After a few seconds, Snorlax rolled off of the smaller Pokémon, revealing its unconscious form.

"Sorry, Eon," Ethan apologized as he recalled his Umbreon into its ball. "This is startin' to look bad…" He muttered as he took out another ball. "Hit, I'm counting on you!" In a flash of light, a Hitmontop appeared, stretching its limbs as a warm up. "Start with Agility!" The Hitmontop jumped onto its spiked head and began to spin in place.

"Mega Punch!" Snorlax charged, raising a glowing white paw.

"Detect and jump!" Before Snorlax's attack could hit, the Hitmontop's eye glinted before it jumped up over his head, narrowly avoiding an uppercut in the process. "Triple Kick!" In midair, the Hitmontop spun and kicked Snorlax in the back of his head three times before landing behind him on its feet.

"Earthquake!"

"Hit 'em with a Rolling Kick!"

Snorlax jumped up, creating a shockwave as he landed. The Hitmontop performed a jump kick, flying over the oncoming shockwave before it performed a spinning kick in midair, landing a particularly hard blow in his stomach. Snorlax's eyes widened as he gasped in pain, then he fell over, most certainly unconscious.

"Way to go! Critical hit!" Ethan cheered as he and his Typhlosion pumped their arms in the air along with the Hitmontop. "Now that I think about it, come on back, Hit." Ignoring his Pokémon's shout of confusion, he returned it back to its ball. "Let's see…I think it's your turn, Amph!" The next Pokémon he sent out was an Ampharos, bleating as it stamped its feet.

"If it's an Ampharos, then…" I sent out Venusaur. "Leech Seed!"

"Block 'em with Cotton Spore!" Seeds were fired out of Venusaur's flower at the Ampharos, who crouched and released dozens of large balls of cotton that collected in front of it like a shield. The seeds went into the cotton, but they didn't seem to come out on the other side. "Now, use Headbutt!" The Ampharos lowered its head and charged forward.

"Grab it!" Venusaur's vines snaked forward and wrapped around the Ampharos's body before it could get close enough, lifting it up off the ground. "Razor Leaf!" A flurry of leaves were then fired at the Light Pokémon as it struggled in Venusaur's grasp, unable to defend itself from getting cut up.

"Fire Punch, Amph!" The Ampharos's fingerless appendages suddenly caught on fire, shocking Venusaur enough to suddenly drop it. The Electric type landed on its feet and dashed forward to deliver a pair of flaming punches to Venusaur's face. "Again!"

"Sweet Scent!" A thick, pink cloud wafted out of the flower on Venusaur's back, surrounding the Ampharos. It looked ready to strike for a few seconds before it suddenly became relaxed and content with simply sniffing the air. "Now, Giga Drain!" Several vines stretched out and wrapped around the unresisting Ampharos. They glowed bright green as Venusaur drained the Electric type of its life force to heal his injuries.

"Snap out of it, Amph! AMPH!" Ethan shouted. That seemed to snap his Pokémon out of its daze and aware of the pain that it was going through. "Zap Cannon!" The Ampharos's gem shone brightly as a ball of crackling electricity formed in front of it. With a cry, it fired the ball at Venusaur, who was too close to even try to dodge the attack, so it easily hit him. Electricity crackled around Venusaur's body as he released the Ampharos and his movements slowed down—a sign that he had become paralyzed.

"Let's try this again! Use Iron Tail, then Fire Punch!" The Ampharos's tail flashed, resembling a piece of metal before it spun around and struck Venusaur in the face with it. The blow caused Venusaur to falter and back away slowly, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid a flaming right hook. But he still remained standing.

"Giga Drain!"

"Keep 'em back with Fire Punch!" As Venusaur tried to grab hold of the Ampharos once again, its appendages caught on fire and it began to swing madly to keep his vines away.

"Toxic!" Venusaur's flower shuddered before showering the Ampharos with thick purple liquid that made it blue in the face and stop attacking. "Now, Petal Dance!" He then fired a whirlwind of petals that pushed the Ampharos back, followed by another that knocked the Light Pokémon over. But when he was about to unleash another whirlwind, Venusaur froze, paralyzed.

"Now's your chance! Fire Punch!" The Ampharos got back on its feet and charged at Venusaur, jumping at him as its arms caught on fire. It landed two flaming punches across his head, effectively knocking him unconscious. Afterwards, the Ampharos stepped back and cried out in pain before it fainted, the poisoning having done its work. I returned Venusaur into his ball, silently thanked him, and sent out Charizard next without a word. Ethan, after returning his fallen Ampharos into its ball, sent out a bright red Gyarados that glared down at Charizard. "Dos, use Hydro Pump!"

"Take flight!" Charizard spread his wings and quickly took to the air, dodging the stream of water that had been aimed at him. "Dragon Breath!" Charizard breathed a cloud of purple-tinged fire down at the Gyarados, burning it along the back of its neck. "Slash!" Then he swooped down and slashed the Atrocious Pokémon along the same spot.

"Knock it down with Flail!" The Gyarados began to flail about wildly, swinging its serpentine body around. Charizard dodged most of its attempts to hit him, but he didn't notice its tail behind him until it smashed into him and then smacked him down. "Whirlpool!" Water swirled around the Gyarados's tail before it swept it along the ground, flinging a ball of water at Charizard while he was still lying down. On impact, the ball exploded, becoming a whirlpool of water that trapped him inside.

"Charizard, reverse the flow with Twister!" After a few seconds, the whirlpool exploded because of the twister that had formed around Charizard and quickly faded away.

"Waterfall!" The Gyarados roared and water enveloped its entire body. Then it charged forward, not only ramming into Charizard, but knocking him up and finishing up with a coiling tackle upwards. "Dragon Breath!"

"You, too!" At the same time, both Pokémon breathed out purple flames of the same color. When the two attacks made contact, Charizard's easily overcame the other and engulfed the Gyarados in its flames.

"Hydro Pump!" But a powerful blast of water sprayed out of the Gyarados's mouth and hit Charizard, knocking him out of the air. Charizard got back on his feet, snarling with a look that could kill on his face. "Use Hyper Beam!" A mass of golden energy gathered in the back of the Gyarados's throat, and with a roar, it fired a wide energy beam that Charizard couldn't react quickly enough to dodge. When the attack was over, he remained standing for only a few seconds before his legs began to buckle and he fell over, too injured to keep moving.

"Charizard, come back…" I said as I returned Charizard to his ball and grabbed hold of Blastoise's. My hand shook from the rush I felt. I was down to two Pokémon, while he still had three. It had been a long time since I had been pushed to this point. Not even the gym leaders in Johto, who gave it everything they had, didn't prove to be that big of a challenge for me. "Blastoise, go!" Blastoise appeared before me, roaring as he flexed his arms.

"Come on back, Dos!" Ethan exclaimed as he returned the exhausted Gyarados into its ball. "And get out here, Hit!" He sent out the Hitmontop once more, which wore a scowl on its face.

"Rain Dance!" Blastoise fired a glowing gray orb up into the sky. The orb exploded, becoming a large gray cloud that rained over the battlefield. "Surf!" He then jumped off the ground and created a wave that was taller than usual due to Rain Dance's influence.

"Jump over it!" The Hitmontop tried to jump over the wave, but it was too tall, so the Handstand Pokémon got caught up in its force and washed over to the far side of the battlefield. "Focus Energy!" It instantly jumped onto its head and began to flex. Its body glowed and wisps of yellow energy rose off of it as it pumped itself up.

"Hydro Pump!"

"Dizzy Punch!" Blastoise fired a powerful stream of water at the Hitmontop, but it quickly spun aside, dodging the attack on the way to striking Blastoise in his side with a punch. But, considering his type, what would've been a decent hit caused minor damage. "Seriously?!"

"Iron Tail!"

"Counter!" Blastoise quickly spun around to lash the smaller Pokémon across its body with his metalized tail. But after getting hit, it quickly spun around, delivering a kick that had enough force to knock Blastoise onto his back. "While it's down, use Triple Kick!" The Hitmontop jumped over the Shellfish Pokémon and spun at a high speed, quickly landing three kicks to his exposed stomach before propelling itself off and landing a few feet away. "And Rolling Kick!"

"Withdraw and roll over!" Blastoise pulled his head and limbs inside of his shell as the Hitmontop ran forward. He rocked the shell until it turned over, just as the Fighting type performed a spinning jump kick, only to stab its foot against one of the spikes that ran long Blastoise's shell. The Hitmontop fell to the ground, clutching its foot in pain. "Rapid Spin!" He then spun around, the impact not doing much damage, but having enough force to push the smaller Pokémon away before it could stand.

"Agility!" The Hitmontop jumped back onto its feet and began to stretch its legs to help it move more quickly. "Rolling Kick again!" It then went back to balancing on its head before spinning towards Blastoise, who was already coming out of his shell.

"Surf!" Once more, Blastoise created a tall wave that raced towards the Hitmontop. I expected it to try and jump over the wave again, so I anticipated having to call out for a Hydro Pump to knock it out of the sky.

"Go around!" With blinding speed, the Hitmontop circled around the wave, appearing near Blastoise's side before I knew it.

"Hyper Fang!" Blastoise craned his head and made to sink his fangs into some part of the Hitmontop's legs, but he wasn't fast enough to outspeed it. The smaller Pokémon jumped up and delivered a spinning kick that struck Blastoise across the face. In retaliation, he bit down on the foot that had been used to kick him, causing it to cry out in pain. "Throw it up in the air!"

"Triple Kick!" Before Blastoise could toss the Hitmontop up, it began spinning its body around to get around the fact that it was limited. Each time it was able to land a kick with its free foot, it would twist its body back the other way to land another kick. It was able to land all three hits before Blastoise was unable to bear the pain and released its foot.

"Hydro Pump!" Blastoise immediately bent over and surprised the Hitmontop by extending his hydro cannon into its face. Then, while the Fighting type was holding onto its face in pain, it was hit up close by a powerful blast of water that pushed it far from the larger Pokémon, causing its unconscious body to end up behind Ethan somehow.

"You were great, Hit…" Ethan spoke, sounding forlorn as he returned his unconscious Pokémon back into its ball. "Geez, it's been a while since we faced odds like these… Ty, get out there and show 'em what you're made of!" He exclaimed, pointing forward. His Typhlosion nodded before releasing him and heading out onto the battlefield on all fours.

Since he still had his Gyarados left, there had to have been something about it that he could use as an advantage against Blastoise. So it was important to take it out before it could get to attack. "Blastoise, Surf!"

"Ty, dig underground!" The Typhlosion quickly burrowed beneath the snow and earth with gusto to avoid being hit by the oncoming wave. Then, just as quickly, it reemerged aboveground by jumping up from the earth beneath Blastoise, knocking him down onto his back. "Thunder Punch!" One of its paws began to crackle with electricity before it chopped Blastoise in the stomach, the blow being enough to finally knock him out.

I returned Blastoise to his ball and smiled as the rain stopped. Now the numbers had turned in Ethan's favor. Pikachu was my last Pokémon, but if he could manage to knock out his Typhlosion, he would likely be able to easily knock out his already weakened Gyarados. "Pikachu, go." He gave me a salute before running out to meet the Typhlosion, who towered over him. I had to wonder if he felt the same sort of excitement I was feeling at that moment. "Thunder Wave!" Quickly, Pikachu paralyzed the Typhlosion with a somewhat harmless jolt of electricity. "Swift!" Pikachu jumped back before flicking his tail in the taller Pokémon's direction, firing a barrage of stars at it—an attack that it took without blocking.

"Submission!" The Typhlosion jumped at Pikachu and grabbed hold of him before they began rolling around together. It finished the attack with it lying down on its back, where it tossed Pikachu up into the air. "Jump and use Flame Wheel!" Then it jumped up into the air beneath him, curled up into a ball, and caught on fire before it spun in midair, hitting Pikachu as he fell and knocking him back up once more.

"Flash!" Pikachu managed to recover in midair and created a blinding light around himself. The Typhlosion, who had uncurled from its ball, covered its eyes as it fell back to the ground. "Slam!" Pikachu dove down towards the larger Pokémon and swung his tail, striking it across the head before he jumped behind it.

"Flamethrower!" The fiery mane around the Typhlosion's neck grew larger as it breathed out a stream of fire and whirled around to try and hit everything around it. But Pikachu managed to duck and avoided getting burnt. "Swift!" The Volcano Pokémon swung its paws and flung a barrage of stars that found their way to Pikachu. "Flame Wheel!" The Typhlosion attempted to move, but it froze and twitched, paralyzed.

"Thunderbolt!" Pikachu charged up and shocked the Typhlosion with a bolt of electricity. "Quick Attack!" Then he dashed forward and rammed into the taller Pokémon, but it didn't move from its spot.

"Flame Wheel!" The Typhlosion suddenly caught on fire and knocked Pikachu back with a rolling tackle. "Flamethrower!" When it finished the attack and uncurled on all fours, it breathed out a stream of fire that succeeded in hitting Pikachu and left him with a visible burn on his body.

"Thunder!" A large bolt of electricity was fired at the Typhlosion, its might knocking the Volcano Pokémon down for a few seconds. "Use Quick Attack!"

"Quick Attack!" Both Pokémon charged into each other headfirst, but the Typhlosion's attack managed to knock Pikachu back. "Submission!" Then it pounced on him and once again began rolling around with Pikachu in its grasp.

"Shock it with Thunder!" Pikachu cried out and shocked the Typhlosion with an immense amount of electricity, but that didn't stop the Fire type's attack, and its constant rolling didn't stop his attack. It went on for a few seconds until the electricity died down and the Typhlosion released Pikachu from its grasp before flopping down on the snow next to him, tired but conscious. Pikachu, however, was unconscious.

"…HOLY CRAP!" Ethan shouted after a few seconds of stunned silence. "We _won_?! I can't believe we won!"

I paid little mind to his reaction to his victory as I approached Pikachu. I picked him up carefully and cradled his unconscious body in my arms. "Was it as exciting for all of you as it was for me?"

"Hey!" Without my noticing, Ethan had made his way over to me. "Be honest: you went easy on me, didn't ya?"

I blinked. "Why would I? We're both trainers whose Pokémon were strong enough to allow us to come here, aren't we?"

"Well, yeah, but… It just felt like it was pure luck."

"Luck is one of the factors in a Pokémon battle. Is it really that surprising to know you won and I lost?"

Ethan laughed nervously and pointed a finger at me. "Well, you're takin' this _really_ easily. If it were _me_ , I'd be beatin' myself up over a battle I came close to winning."

"It makes me happy to battle strong trainers. And sometimes…it's nice to lose." I ignored the look of confusion and the noise the other boy made as I continued, "Losing lets me know that my Pokémon and I haven't reached the peak of our potential yet…and to be honest, I've recently come to enjoy the idea of the journey more than the destination. So I really enjoyed our battle."

"W-wow… You're s'posed to be as old as me, but you sound really mature… But I can understand that. Recently, I've been thinkin' that maybe it wasn't so bad that Lance became the champion. I've done so many things since leaving home, getting into the Hall of Fame was enough for me." The sound of the wind suddenly became louder and it started to hail. "Stupid weather. Uh, say…since we're both going back the same way…and neither of us really have Pokémon that're fighting fit, why don't we go back to the Pokémon Center together? It'd be safer."

I stared at the gold-eyed boy for a few seconds before nodding. "Okay."

 **X-X-X**

On the trip back to the Pokémon Center, which somehow managed to be less precarious than the climb up, Ethan and I talked. Or rather, Ethan talked and I listened. I didn't really mind, and he seemed eager to tell me about himself. He was from New Bark Town in Johto, a place I never saw the need to visit since it didn't have a gym, but sounded a lot like Pallet Town. He lived alone with his mother because his father was "no good," and held off on leaving home to travel because he felt she needed a "man around the house". He was never looked on kindly by people in his town because he was "kind of a delinquent" who got into fights and did some juvenile things. Said delinquency is what led to him working for Professor Elm, who studied Pokémon breeding and gave him his first Pokémon to fulfill an errand. He had the misfortune of running into some members of Team Rocket who wanted to find Giovanni and continue their dirty work in Johto, but he always managed to take care of them whenever their paths crossed. He had friends he would often cross paths with: one a girl who also worked for the professor, the other a boy who liked to pick fights with him for stupid reasons and could be something of a jerk. It was interesting and just a little strange what similarities there had been between our lives. Maybe that's why I found myself liking Ethan, despite his occasional bluntness.

"Man, after everything that's happened, I'm not sure what I'll do next to keep myself from getting' bored," Ethan said after we had left the area surrounding Mount Silver and entered Viridian City. "Hey, I almost forgot to ask—and uh, I hope ya don't take this the wrong way—but do you wanna exchange numbers?"

I blinked. "Exchange numbers?" I repeated slowly.

"We can call each other up if one of us gets the urge to battle again, or if we just wanna talk. You, uh… _can_ engage in casual conversation, can't ya? 'Cuz you haven't exactly been chatty…"

"I can have conversations. I'm not antisocial." Pikachu made an aside comment that somehow made Ethan's Typhlosion laugh. "Sure. Let's exchange numbers." Honestly, the last time person I gave my number to someone for friendly purposes was Blue. So exchanging numbers with Ethan was probably a good thing. Mom would be happy to know that I was increasing my circle of human friends, even if only by one person.

After the exchange was done, Ethan grinned. "I got _the_ Red's phone number! This is even better than an autograph! I mean… See ya!" After saying goodbye, Ethan and his Typhlosion ran northward, intending to take a boat from Vermillion City back home to Johto.

Pikachu sighed and shook his head before saying something. "He's a nice person. I like him," I said with a small smile. Pikachu made another comment as he pointed at something in the distance: the Viridian Gym. Was he trying to say I had bad taste in friends based on Blue? "I wonder how Blue's gotten along with the gym since we've been gone. We should go and visit him…eventually." It felt like I had to build up to getting back to a good place with Blue again, but maybe I was just paranoid about our friendship possibly being ruined for a second time. "It's getting late. Let's go home."

As Pikachu and I walked back to Pallet Town, my thoughts wandered to the future. I wondered how long it would be for our next adventure or our next challenge to appear before us. There were other regions in the world with new Pokémon to see, opponents to battle, and possibly friends and memories to make...at a later point in time. For the near future, the most important thing was eating a home-cooked meal, bathing in a familiar bathroom, and knowing that I could sleep in late in my own bed for a while.

 **X-X-X**

 _Notes!_

 **Togetic learns Return and Shadow Ball via TM. Umbreon learns Toxic and Curse via TM. A Tyrogue hatched from an Odd Egg in Crystal (among several other possible baby Pokémon) knows Dizzy Punch upon hatching. Ampharos learns Headbutt, Fire Punch, Zap Cannon and Iron Tail via TM. Gyarados learns Whirlpool and Waterfall via HM/TM and Dragon Breath via TM. Typhlosion learns Dig and Thunder Punch via TM and Submission via breeding.**

 **Lance's statement about his cousin is a reference to how Clair forces the player to go through the Dragon-master challenge before giving them their last Johto badge.**

 **Most of Ethan's Pokémon reference events in the Johto games: Ampharos for the Olivine Lighthouse, Umbreon for the Eevee received from Bill, Togetic for the egg obtained near the start of the game, Gyarados for the Lake of Rage, and Hitmontop for the Tyrogue that can either be received in Mt. Mortar or—in Crystal only—hatched at random from the Odd Egg.**

 **X-X-X**

 **So, that's it. Pokémon Volt Yellow is now completed. I have to say that this story has been pretty fun to write and think up ideas for, though it helped that Gen 1 is so simple in regards to its story. Now I can focus on finishing the** _ **other**_ **Pokémon story I'm writing…hopefully. Thanks to everyone who kept reading this story to the end, whether you went about leaving reviews or just silently followed along. I may have started this because of one of my flights of fancy, but knowing there are people who enjoyed it was a real motivator.**

 **So, one last time…remember to review for Blu and Pikachu!**


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